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Floating IP Best Practices

  1. Allocate Floating IPs Wisely

    • Only allocate floating IPs when absolutely necessary. Each floating IP consumes a public IP address from your pool, which is often a limited and valuable resource.
    • Reclaim unused or idle floating IPs promptly to ensure efficient utilization of resources.

  2. Deallocate IPs When Not in Use

    • If a floating IP is no longer required, deallocate it immediately to avoid unnecessary charges and free up resources for other uses.

  3. Use Floating IPs for Public-Facing Services

    • Assign floating IPs to instances or services that need to be accessible from the internet. For internal communication, use private IP addresses to preserve floating IP resources.

  4. Secure the Network Perimeter

    • Use security groups and firewall rules to restrict access to instances with floating IPs. Only allow necessary inbound traffic and deny all other traffic by default.

  5. Regularly Update Security Patches

    • Keep instances with floating IPs updated with the latest security patches. Publicly accessible services are more exposed to vulnerabilities, so timely updates are crucial.

  6. Isolate Public Services

    • Run public-facing services on separate instances or networks from internal services. This reduces the risk of lateral movement by attackers who may gain access through a public-facing service.