Is it always neccessary to have the ip in the host file

[mujahed_khan]

Hi there i have a question is it always necessary to have the ip in the host file if we are configuring outlook or thunderbird

[kanderson]

Not if the name is resolvable via DNS.

Using DNS is fairly easy and quick, and it saves you the headache of adding the host entry to each desktop. The desktop will automatically query the DNS, and it'll get the IP back.

Thanks
Kev.