Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!NNSC.NSF.NET!craig
From: craig@NNSC.NSF.NET (Craig Partridge)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: re: Multihoming
Message-ID: <8910121623.AA20828@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 12 Oct 89 12:11:43 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 20


> 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.
> 
> ...
> 
> 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.

Frank:

    I think the tide is moving the other way.  People will use one name which
maps to multiple addresses.  The Host Requirements states that applications
have to be able to handle a case where a name maps to multiple addresses,
and if one fails, try to connect to the other.

Craig