IP assignment for virtual webhosting

Cor Bosman (cor at xs4all.net) wrote:

> Nurani Nimpuno <nurani at ripe.net> wrote:
> > We therefore suggest to promote namebased
> > webhosting and to change the current policy so that IP addresses can no
> > longer be assigned for IP-based webhosting.
> 
> I believe it's a very good idea to strongly promote using namebased webhosting.
> We've done surveys on our own website, and found out the amount of clients
> connecting with 1.0 is next to nothing. So the 'old clients' excuse just
> isnt there. And in cases where we've had complaints, customers were more
> than willing to upgrade their browsers after we explain whats going on. 
> We've had to do this like twice this year, no big deal.

Although the amount of clients connecting with 1.0 may be very little in
most cases, it does still happen. We have customers specifically state that
they do not want to set up http 1.1 because at the end of the day, some
people will not be able to view their (and/or their clients') web sites,
which is fair enough. If they want to ensure that every person possible can
access their site, I believe they should have that right.

And yes, then there is the issue of SSL certificates requiring a unique IP
per site. John Crain, RIPE NCC's Internal Manager, told me this shouldn't be
the case, but I see that others here are bringing it up as well.
(Admittedly, SSL requirements are something I have no experience with.)
 
> I dont think though that prohibiting ip based virtual hosting is a good idea.

Ditto. Prohibiting is not a good thing. Requesting, advising, and preferring
http 1.1 is one thing. RIPE NCC's demanding it is another and is very
dictatorial. That would then lead to a prohibition on static-IPs for
dial-ups, as well, I'm sure.


Sam Bradford
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