Assigning static IP addresses

With servers, it's very important that your IP addresses remain fixed and do not change for any reason. If an IP address does change (such as a dynamic lease), your users will experience an outage, services will fail, or entire sites may become unavailable. When you install Ubuntu Server, it will grab a dynamically assigned lease from your DHCP server, but after you configure the server the way you want it, it's important to get a permanent IP address in place right away. One exception to this rule is an Ubuntu-based VPS. Cloud providers that bill you for these servers will have an automatic system in place to declare an IP address for your new VPS, and will already have it configured to stick. But in the case of virtual or physical servers you manage yourself; you'll start off with a dynamic address.

In most cases, you'll have an IP address scheme in place at your office or organization, which will outline a range of IP addresses that are available for use with...