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From: kasten@interlan.interlan.COM (Frank Kastenholz)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re:  Multihoming
Message-ID: <8910111456.AA19313@interlan.interlan.com>
Date: 11 Oct 89 14:56:16 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 24

Gary,

A node name is just something to make it easy for us human types to enter
commands. The node name/IP address mapping is a function of your local
directory system. Most, if not all, such directory systems basically
do one-to-one mapping - one host name per IP address and vice versa.

A directory system _could_ return >1 IP address for a given node name, but
then the problem of choosing which IP address to use comes up - if I say
FTP FOO and I get back 2 IP addresses - 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2, which one should
I use? There are all kinds of heuristics that one could use (I am "closer"
to net 1.x.x.x than I am to 2.x.x.x, etc, etc, etc) but no one does.

Having a unique name for each IP address solves these problems, but
introduces some human problems. A machine would have multiple equally
valid names - "You can call me Ray, or You can call me Jay...."

So, to summarize - having one name and multiple IP addresses is theoretically
possible, but there does not seem to be any support for it in the name/address
resolution systems so the tacit implementors agreement is one address/one name.

Cheers
Frank Kastenholz
Racal InterLan