Every OS has a ‘hosts’ file that defines mapping of hostnames to IP address. The computer file is used to store information on where to find a node on a computer network, and is under the control of local computer’s administrator.

‘Hosts’ file can be helpful for blocking/redirecting hostnames and accelerating DNS resolution. It is used by variety of OS including Windows, Linux, MacOS, Symbian etc.

In Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP/20003, its default location is:
%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\

If you open a hosts file using any text editor, it will look like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a ‘#’ symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1    localhost

To add more entries, simply add IP address followed by the hostname (as shown in the file) and your hostnames will be redirected to that IP address!

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