[Linux-disciples] Cached hostname

[Stephen R Laniel]

I'm trying to ssh to a machine whose IP address is stored in
/etc/hosts and is 10.0.1.5. I've been having trouble
connecting to it, and for some reason I just thought to ping
its hostname; turns out the local machine believes that
its IP address is 10.0.1.2, which leads me to four
possibilities:

1) the local machine has cached the .1.2 IP address;
2) the remote machine (an OS X box) is for some reason
broadcasting its local name and IP address;
3) there is some file other than /etc/hosts that the system
is consulting first;
4) the router knows the name 'carmen' (the OS machine's
name), and my request for Carmen is getting redirected at
the router.

1) seems unlikely to me; I rebooted this machine, and the
trouble persists.

2) also seems unlikely; I don't know of machines
broadcasting their hostnames.

3) is possible, and I'll grep through /etc presently.

4) seems unlikely; cable/DSL routers aren't generally so
smart, but who knows.

So: just to cover my bases, does anyone know of any other
files that take precedence over /etc/hosts?

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