Question (not necessarily related to -amd64)

[mike <mike503@gmail.com>]

Is an /etc/hosts lookup negligible? I'd like to assign "friendly
names" to my servers "i.e. 'mysql' for the mysql server" - right now I
use IPs. But it would make it more portable (as well as make it easier
for my hosting clients to remember) - but if it's going to add a lot
of overhead, then I'd rather not... I know it isn't as "expensive" as
a normal DNS lookup, but it has to be more expensive than just a
straight IP address.

This would mainly be used from PHP scripts, some are accessed hundreds
of times per minute - maybe this information gets cached and I'm
worrying for nothing?

Thanks,
mike