There is one other type of configuration that we should cover, and that is a host that sits on two different networks. Technically, any machine functioning as a gateway (in the example above, using a PPP connection) counts as a dual-homed host. But the term is really only used to refer to a machine that sits on two local-area networks.
In one case, the machine as two ethernet cards, each having an address on the separate subnets. Alternately, the machine may only have one ethernet card, and be using ifconfig aliasing. The former is used if two physically separate ethernet networks are in use, the latter if there is one physical network segment, but two logically separate subnets.
Either way, routing tables are set up so that each subnet knows that this machine is the defined gateway (inbound route) to the other subnet. This configuration, with the machine acting as a Bridge between the two subnets, is often used when we need to implement packet filtering or firewall security in either or both directions.