This could be fixed on the client side, an A record for DNS can return multiple IP addresses. A browser could step through the IPs like the OS does for DNS or

This could be fixed on the client side, an A record for DNS can return multiple IP addresses. A browser could step through the IPs like the OS does for DNS or a mail client will for MX. Go 'nslookup www.google.com' as an example of a record that returns multiple IPs. I wrote a blog post about availability from the discussion of BitBucket a couple months back. It applies to the situation today as well: http://www.bretpiatt.com/blog/2009/10/03/availability-is-a-fundamental-design-concept/ http://www.bretpiatt.com/blog/2009/10/03/availability-is-a-f... All of the people saying, "You should have a multi-provider / multi-location deployment and you should DIY" are talking in theory or talking from a large enterprise perspective. I know very few start-ups or SMBs that go the multiple location route DIY -- few even that go with a multi-DC configuration with the help of a provider. The reason behind this is opportunity cost, if you are a startup and have a 30 minute outage on a Friday afternoon people will cope with it and it won't cost you enough revenue to more than double the cost of your configuration (a full multi-site configuration is 2x + y where x = cost of a single site and y = cost to ensure data consistency across sites and make the decision on which location to route traffic).