[PLUG] Browser redirection for site testing

[Keith Lofstrom]

I run a few websites on my server.  I like to test them before 
repointing DNS at them.  I am wondering if there is any combination
of stuff I can feed Firefox (or other browsers) to make them ignore
normal DNS and ask for a URL at a different IP address.

An example for clarification.  I own the domain "keithl.com", which
is currently pointed at the IP address 72.249.22.145, along with a
dozen other URLs .  Let's say I start up a new server on IP address
123.45.67.89, and copy the site information to that, and then turn
on Apache.  The new server can respond to requests for all the 
different virtuals, but DNS doesn't point to it yet.  I want to test
keithl.com, and all the other virtuals, before I switch the DNS over.

THE QUESTION:  Is there some way to ask Firefox for, say,
http://123.45.67.89:www.keithl.com/ , so that the browser goes
to the right IP address and Apache gets the right browser information,
as if DNS was actually pointing there? 

Yes, I can fake out the DNS on my own browser machine, but I would
like a technique that I can use on another machine that I do not
control, to make sure the new IP address is reachable before I change
the DNS server to point to it.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs