Replication master binlog rotation when network is unavailable
Whenever a Slave loses network connectivity, the IO thread simply dies and tries to reconnect every 60 seconds. You did the right thing in pointing the Slave back but let's clarify what to use to point back with.

For the give SHOW SLAVE STATUS\G

mysql&gt; show slave status\G
*************************** 1. row ***************************
               Slave_IO_State: Waiting for master to send event
                  Master_Host: 10.17.20.102
                  Master_User: replicant
                  Master_Port: 3306
                Connect_Retry: 60
              Master_Log_File: mysql-bin.002814
          Read_Master_Log_Pos: 823078734
               Relay_Log_File: relay-bin.007364
                Relay_Log_Pos: 823078879
        Relay_Master_Log_File: mysql-bin.002814
             Slave_IO_Running: Yes
            Slave_SQL_Running: Yes
              Replicate_Do_DB:
          Replicate_Ignore_DB:
           Replicate_Do_Table:
       Replicate_Ignore_Table:
      Replicate_Wild_Do_Table:
  Replicate_Wild_Ignore_Table:
                   Last_Errno: 0
                   Last_Error:
                 Skip_Counter: 0
          Exec_Master_Log_Pos: 823078734
              Relay_Log_Space: 823079071
              Until_Condition: None
               Until_Log_File:
                Until_Log_Pos: 0
           Master_SSL_Allowed: No
           Master_SSL_CA_File:
           Master_SSL_CA_Path:
              Master_SSL_Cert:
            Master_SSL_Cipher:
               Master_SSL_Key:
        Seconds_Behind_Master: 0
Master_SSL_Verify_Server_Cert: No
                Last_IO_Errno: 0
                Last_IO_Error:
               Last_SQL_Errno: 0
               Last_SQL_Error:
1 row in set (0.00 sec)


WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT PICK


Master_Log_File represents the log file containing the last successfully executed SQL statement on the Master that was recorded in the Slave's Relay Logs.
Read_Master_Log_Pos represents the position within Master_Log_File of the last successfully executed SQL statement on the Master that was recorded in the Slave's Relay Logs.


WHAT YOU SHOULD PICK


Relay_Master_Log_File represents the log file containing the last successfully executed SQL statement on the Master that was executed on the Slave.
Exec_Master_Log_Pos represents the position within Relay_Master_Log_File of the last successfully executed SQL statement on the Master that was executed on the Slave.


In most cases, when caught early enough, Master_Log_File and Relay_Master_Log_File are the same. When there is significant replication lag or if the SQL thread breaks and the IO Thread keeps collecting, Master_Log_File and Relay_Master_Log_File will be different.

CONCLUSION

ALWAYS PICK Relay_Master_Log_File and Exec_Master_Log_Pos as a restart point.

Here are my other posts that reemphasize this paradigm:


Dec 05, 2011 : Does `Seconds_Behind_Master` show exact Slave Lag from Master?
Jan 04, 2012 : MySQL Slave replication: Need to determine where replication left off to start slave in correct location
Jan 24, 2012 : Mysql master-master replication auto flush old logs (Under Reason #3)
Apr 04, 2012 : Seconds Behind Master in Cloud Service


CAVEAT #1

Please do not be concerned with binlog rotation on the Master when it comes to Replication's status. The Slave's IO Thread is very sensitive to the Master's change. Here is how you can verify this:

STEP 01 : On the Slave, run SHOW SLAVE STATUS\G

STEP 02 : On the Master


For MySQL 5.5, run FLUSH LOGS; or FLUSH BINARY LOGS;
Prior to MySQL 5.5, run FLUSH LOGS;


STEP 03 : On the Slave, run SHOW SLAVE STATUS\G

You will see the Master_Log_File and Read_Master_Log_Pos change immedaitely.

CAVEAT #2

Since Relay_Master_Log_File has the most recent binary from the Master to be executed on the Slave, that's the log you keep on the Master. From the above SHOW SLAVE STATUS\G, you would run

PURGE BINARY LOGS TO 'mysql-bin.002814';