## Public IP Addresses Public IP addresses are globally routable IPv4 addresses that allow your instances to communicate with the internet. By default, RunAtlas assigns dynamic public IPs to new networks, but you can also acquire static IP addresses for consistent access. ### Types of Public IPs 1. **Source NAT IP**: The primary IP address assigned to a network or VPC. All outbound traffic from instances in the network will appear to originate from this IP. - **Port Forwarding**: Can be configured on this IP to reach specific internal services. - **VPN**: Often used as the endpoint for Site-to-Site VPN connections. 2. **Additional Public IPs**: You can acquire extra IP addresses for specific purposes: - **Load Balancer VIP**: Frontend IP for balancing traffic across multiple backend instances. - **Static NAT**: Maps a public IP directly 1-to-1 to a specific instance (bypassing the virtual router's port forwarding rules). ### Acquiring a Public IP 1. Navigate to **Network > Public IP Addresses**. 2. Click **Acquire New IP**. 3. Select the **Zone** and the **Network** or **VPC** to associate it with. 4. **Description**: Tag the IP for easier management (e.g., "Web Server Prod"). ### Configuring Rules Once acquired, click on the IP address to configure access: - **Firewall**: Allow specific ports/protocols (e.g., TCP 80, 443) through the network firewall. **(Required first!)** - **Port Forwarding**: Forward external port X to internal port Y on a specific VM. - **Load Balancing**: Distribute incoming traffic on a port to a pool of VMs. - **Enable Static NAT**: Permanently map this IP to a single VM for full inbound/outbound traffic. ### Releasing an IP To stop billing for an unused IP address: 1. Select the IP address. 2. Click **Release IP**. **Warning**: Released IPs are returned to the pool and cannot be recovered. Any associated DNS records must be updated immediately. ### Pricing Public IP addresses are billed hourly while allocated to your account, regardless of usage.