What is IP failover and why is it useful?

What is IP failover?

Failover IPs are basically moveable IPs from one server to another. Users can switch them over within a few minutes from their consoles. This allows them to keep their site operating without major or long-term interruptions.

The IP failover usually allows you to seamlessly switch to another server or system. This can be used either manually or automatically, depending on your hosting or cloud provider and your preferences.

What are its uses?

You can use an IP failover in various cases. If it’s automated, you can make it so that the system automatically switches to a backup server in the event of a malfunction. Another use is to move an IP from one host to another for bare metal cloud servers. This way you can move about without changing everything every time. Or you can make virtual machines and use failover IP configurations for them to ease your work and configuration.

When you use a manual IP failover feature, this is a way to easily move to a new server when you change it or upgrade it. Depending on the provider, these IPs can also move between datacenters within the same network. As you can imagine, this brings a lot of possibilities for your setup and configuration.

Another option is to use it for hosting multiple projects over more than one server. For example, you can switch over some of the sites to a more powerful server when the load gets higher.