[WEB4LIB] Re: Linking to numeric IP addresses vs. alpha in URLS

[Bob Jones]

> Stacy Pober wrote:
> > I was considering switching the alphabetic domain name with the numeric
> > IP addresses in our links to these sites, but according to tech support
> > at one of the vendors, they don't think this is a good idea, since
> > they may switch servers (and thus numeric IP's) at times.  
> 
> Stacy,

If your alphabetic domain names are not resolving, then there is a problem
reaching a domain name server.  We had this problem (intermittently) and
tried using the numeric addresses, but found that if the target page uses
alphabetic IPs for its own graphics, features, and links, they too cannot
be resolved and the page may not load.  Our solution was to take a very
old PC, load one of the free Unix flavors and set up a Domain Name Server
(non-authoritative) on "our" side of any institutional router or hub. Your
DNS will learn from other DNSes on the Internet.  Once installed there is
practically no maintenance!

In the Windows 9x environments, we also found that using the HOSTS file on
each workstation had some success, but was a bear to maintain.

Bob Jones                                    mailto:bjones at unf.edu
Head, Public Services Division and Systems Coordinator
University of North Florida Library          http://www.unf.edu/library/    
P.O. Box 17605                               (904) 620-2552 (SC 861-2552) 
Jacksonville, FL  32245-7605                 FAX: (904) 620-2719
                                             ARIEL: 139.62.208.88