What are the limitations when running all services on a single static IP?

Question

I need to setup a VPN trunk (with remote branch office location), Video Conference and Web Server on-premise in the office.

I am used to ISP providing blocks of 8 or 16 IPs. But I have a new ISP which says they only can provide a single IP. Are there any issues with running all services on a single IP?

I don't think this has any thing to do with bandwidth..? I'm not using SSL certificates... I can do port forwarding to different machines... What else...?

Disclaimer: I am a programmer by training. Sorry for noob question.

Everyone is running out of IPv4 addresses. Soon, they will give you _zero_. Make sure you're also getting IPv6. — Michael Hampton, Jun 26 '13 at 02:48
In response to the hold status, I have changed my original title to better reflect what I was really asking in the beginning. I actually was going to have 2 Video Conference sets of the same model and the answers reminded me that they cannot share the same ports. — Jake, Jun 27 '13 at 13:39

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 26 '13 at 02:20

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It is typical for small and medium businesses to provide multiple services on a single IP address. It gets complicated (but not impossible) only when you aspire to host multiple secure web sites at the same IP address and TCP port number.

answered Jun 26 '13 at 02:20

Skyhawk

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 26 '13 at 02:14

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No generally there no problems running multiple services on a single IP.

answered Jun 26 '13 at 02:14

mdpc

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 26 '13 at 02:18

A single IP address will force you to host these services on non-standard ports if they both use the same port by default. For example, if your video conferencing software and web server both want to use port 80 for HTTP and you need to have both accessible publicly, you'll have to set one to run on port 80 and the other to a different port (like 8080).

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 26 '13 at 02:47

By using a single IP address, you're limited to setup your services to listen via TCP/UDP ports only. The downside would be you have to setup certain services to use non-standard ports, or some ports may be in conflict with other services when not properly documented. Your clients will also have to be configured to use these non-standard ports - extrapolate that to 100 clients and you have to do lots of reconfiguration. :(

Take note of the ports assigned to certain applications (1433 for MSSQL Server, 80 for Web, 22 for SSH, etc.) and avoid using these standard ports when configuring a custom port for your services. When in doubt, refer to a list of well known and registered port numbers. :)

What are the limitations when running all services on a single static IP?

4 Answers4