All devices on the World Wide Web are identified by a special number called an IP address, for example 123.123.123.123. In case you have a site, the domain name that you enter in order to access it is to save you time, but the server where the site files are still has an IP address. Considering that there are a lot more websites and devices than there are IPs, all of the shared hosting servers have a number of websites under the very same IP, while using a dedicated server you'll be given a dedicated IP as well. Even in the first case though, you're able to get a dedicated IP for your sites and host them on a shared server. One benefit would be that you'll have superior search engine rankings since a dedicated IP usually means a faster loading website. In addition, you need such an IP when you intend to obtain an SSL certificate for your website and protect the info that your visitors submit on it.