Resolving Names with the Hosts Table

The Hosts table is really a lot like DNS, except its entries are static for each and every host and server. Within the Hosts table, you’ll find a collection of hostnames that devices reference for name-resolution purposes. And even though it works in both IPv4 and IPv6 environments, it’s unlikely you will use it these days because the Hosts table is a way-ancient relic left over from old Unix machines.

But just because it’s museum quality doesn’t mean you won’t run into it now and then, which is the main reason I’m showing it to you. You can find the Hosts table in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Just double-click the file, and then choose to open the file in Notepad or another text editor. Here’s the default information—it’s really nothing more than an explanation of how to use it and the local hosts for both IP and IPv6:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.

#

# This is a sample...