As I understand it a virtual IP is really a second (or any subsequent) IP address for a network interface on a machine, usually a webserver. All machines have to have one IP number for each network interface to be in an IP network. They can have more and the rest are known as virtual IPs, although they are just as real as the first, really.It used to be the only way to separate web services (virtual servers) on a server but now you can use dns based separation as long as you don't want encryption. So a non-virtual IP would be the initial IP address for the network interface.
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Kyle
Carhartt Insulated Gloves investment real estate