For a small network of stations under the same administrative control, maintaining a consistent /etc/hosts database is straightforward. Establish a master copy on one station and make additions or deletions from its file. Then use rcp(1C) or rdist(1C) to copy the file to the other stations in the network.
Maintaining consistent versions of /etc/hosts on every station in a large network is troublesome. NIS and the BIND name server both make maintenance easier by providing a centralized version of the host database.