Elastic IPs and static public addresses

Explanation · Updated Jun 2026

Coming from another cloud?

▸AWS·Elastic IP addresses

Elastic IP addresseshigh

AWS charges idle EIPs.
OpenStack floating IPs free/pool-limited.
AWS regional instance/ENI.
OpenStack project port.

AWS docs ↗

▸Azure·Public IP addresses

Public IP addresseshigh

Public IP is a dedicated ARM resource with SKUs (Basic/Standard); IPv4 billed, IPv6 free ().
Static/dynamic allocation (Standard static only); zone-redundant option (Standard v2).
Associated directly to NIC/LB/gateway vs via router DNAT in OpenStack.
Dynamic outbound uses ephemeral IPs even without assoc; no pool allocation like Neutron external nets.

Azure docs ↗

▸DigitalOcean·Reserved IPs (formerly Floating IPs)

Reserved IPs (formerly Floating IPs)medium

Naming/API surface: DigitalOcean renamed Floating IPs to Reserved IPs; endpoints and fields change from `floating_ips` to `reserved_ips` (while legacy endpoints existed until a stated deprecation window), whereas OpenStack retains the “floatingip” resource in Neutron APIs ().
Identity model: DigitalOcean’s resource identifier in the API path is the IP address itself (`/v2/reserved_ips/{reserved_ip}` where `{reserved_ip}` is an IPv4 address), whereas OpenStack commonly uses UUID identifiers for Neutron resources like floating IPs and ports ().
Attachment model: creation requires either `droplet_id` or `region` and reassignment is conceptually “map to a Droplet”; OpenStack associates floating IPs to Neutron ports (and thus can be used with more complex networking constructs like routers), which is a different mental model for migrating users ().
Region binding: DigitalOcean Reserved IPs are explicitly bound to a region, while OpenStack floating IP pools are usually defined per external network and can be consumed wherever that external network is reachable (implementation-specific) ().

DigitalOcean docs ↗

▸Google Cloud·Static External IP

Static External IPhigh

GCP static IPs are regional or global resources, with unassociated IPs metered per-hour; OpenStack floating IPs are pool-based. See the GCP pricing page for current rates.
GCP supports both ephemeral (auto-released on stop) and static IPs; OpenStack floating IPs are always explicit.
GCP global static IPs used with global load balancers only; no direct OpenStack equivalent.

Google Cloud docs ↗

▸Hetzner·Floating IPs

Floating IPshigh

Flat monthly billing €3/IPv4 or hourly equivalent, not usage-based per hour ().
Locked to specific location/zone, cannot move across datacenters unlike global pools in OpenStack ().
Hot-reassign without server reboot but requires manual OS config (e.g., ifupdown/netplan) post-change ().
Limits: 10/account default, 20/server max; single assignment at a time ().

Hetzner docs ↗

Elastic IPs and static public addresses

Elastic IP (AWS), reserved IP (DigitalOcean), static external IP (GCP), and public IP (Azure) names all describe a stable public address you attach to a workload. On Quake AI that role is a floating IP allocated from the provider pool and associated with an instance port on a private network.

On Quake AI#

Floating IPs use destination NAT: clients reach the public address; traffic forwards to the instance private IP. You can disassociate and move the address to another instance during maintenance without changing the public side of DNS.

Quotas cap floating IPs per project. Security groups still filter which ports accept traffic after association.

Provider names#

Provider	Their term	On Quake AI
AWS	Elastic IP	Floating IP
Azure	Public IP address	Floating IP
Google Cloud	Static external IP	Floating IP
Hetzner	Floating IP	Floating IP
DigitalOcean	Reserved IP	Floating IP

Elastic IPs and static public addresses

Elastic IPs and static public addresses

On Quake AI#

Provider names#

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