An IP address acts in two roles:
1) As a node or endpoint identifier to the transport layer for an end to end
conversation.
2) As a locator for routing packets to a particular topological location.
actually, I will argue that the endpoint identifier is the dns name. That
has problems in that
- it needs to be able to name a service and get the address of the most
serviceable instance of a computer offering it to the requestor; it
currently simply offers *an* address of a list of addresses from which the
requestor needs to choose at random
- it presumes a global address space (there is no concept of "source
route to this gateway address and then to that private address", or the
obvious generalization)
- A list of other things I will think of just after I send this email
But it in fact acts to identify the intended endpoint.
