title: Access load-balanced website when DNS lookup is restricted on server
body: <p>The scenario is - I need to send push notification to Apple push server hosted at <code>gateway.sandbox.push.apple.com</code>. This Apple server is load balanced and the destination IP address can be anything in 17.x.x.x block.</p>
  
  <p>Now my server which will be requesting Apple server is in secure environment and is behind firewalls. I have got the IP range 17.x.x.x unblocked, but DNS resolving is not possible on that server. That server also doesnt have Internet access on it.</p>
  
  <p>What I did was - I pinged the Apple server from another system and got the Apple server's IP address for the moment. Then I mapped that IP address with the DNS name in the hosts file of my Windows server. This worked, but now the IP address can change anytime at the Apple end, and this will break things.</p>
  
  <p>What can I do in this scenario?</p>