Selectively utilizing an automatically generated internet protocol address in a networked environment

A computer program product for implementing within a computer system a method for determining which IP address to use when a sending device in the local area network communicates with a destination device, the determination depending on whether the IP address received from the IP address server is in conflict, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium for providing computer program code means utilized to implement the method, wherein the computer program code means is comprised of executable code for implementing the following:
• an act of determining whether an assigned IP address received from an IP address server is in conflict;
• in response to the act of determining, if the assigned IP address is in conflict, an act of using an automatically generated IP address;
• and
• in response to the act of determining, if the assigned IP address received is not in conflict, an act of using the assigned IP address received from the IP address server.

In a networked computing environment including a local area network containing one or more host computers, wherein a first IP address is generated by one of the host computers and a second IP address is received by the host computer on the local area network from an IP address server, a method for determining which IP address to use when a sending device in the local area network communicates with a destination device, depending on the location of the destination device, wherein different communication protocols may be implemented based on the location of the destination device, the method comprising the following:

• an act of automatically generating an IP address;
• an act of receiving an IP address from an IP address server;
• and
• an act of determining whether the network portion of a source IP address matches the network portion of a destination IP address;
• an act of using the automatically generated IP address if the network portion of the source IP address matches the network portion of the destination IP address;
• and
• an act of using the assigned IP address if the network portion of the source IP address does not match the network portion of the destination IP address.

A computer program product for implementing within a computer system a method for determining which IP address to use when a sending device in the local area network communicates with a destination device, the determination depending on whether the sending device and the destination device are both within a common local area network, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable medium for providing computer program code means utilized to implement the method, wherein the computer program code means is comprised of executable code for implementing the following:
• an act of determining whether the network portion of a source IP address associated with the sending device matches the network portion of a destination IP address associated with the destination device;
• an act of using an automatically generated IP address if the network portion of the source IP address matches the network portion of the destination IP address;
• and
• an act of using an IP address assigned from an IP address server if the network portion of the source IP address does not match the network portion of the destination IP address.

In a networked computing environment including a local area network containing one or more host computers, wherein a first IP address is generated by one of the host computers and a second IP address is received by the host computer on the local area network from an IP address server, a method for determining which IP address to use when a sending device in the local area network communicates with a destination device, depending on the location of the destination device, wherein different communication protocols may be implemented based on the location of the destination device, the method comprising the following:

• an act of automatically generating an IP address;
• an act of receiving an IP address from an IP address server;
• and
• a step for selectively using either the automatically generated IP address or the assigned IP address depending on whether or not a communication is occurring entirely within the local area network.