diff --git a/influxdb.hpp b/influxdb.hpp
index 15fa3d7..089cd23 100644
--- a/influxdb.hpp
+++ b/influxdb.hpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <sstream>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <cstdio>
+#include <cstdlib>
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
     #define NOMINMAX
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@
     #include <sys/socket.h>
     #include <sys/uio.h>
     #include <netinet/in.h>
+    #include <netdb.h>
     #include <arpa/inet.h>
     #define closesocket close
 #endif
@@ -37,8 +39,26 @@ namespace influxdb_cpp {
         std::string db_;
         std::string usr_;
         std::string pwd_;
-        server_info(const std::string& host, int port, const std::string& db = "", const std::string& usr = "", const std::string& pwd = "")
-            : host_(host), port_(port), db_(db), usr_(usr), pwd_(pwd) {}
+        server_info(const std::string& host, int port, const std::string& db = "", const std::string& usr = "", const std::string& pwd = "") {
+            port_ = port;
+            db_   = db;
+            usr_  = usr;
+            pwd_  = pwd;  
+
+            //convert hostname to ip-address
+            hostent * record = gethostbyname(host.c_str());
+            if(record == NULL)
+            {
+                printf("Cannot resolve IP address from hostname: %s is unavailable. Try to ping the host.\n", host.c_str());
+                std::exit(-1);
+            }
+            in_addr * address = (in_addr * )record->h_addr;
+            std::string ip_address = inet_ntoa(* address);
+
+            printf("Resolved IP address from hostname: %s.\n", ip_address.c_str());
+
+            host_ = ip_address;
+        }
     };
     namespace detail {
         struct meas_caller;
@@ -200,6 +220,7 @@ namespace influxdb_cpp {
 
             addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
             addr.sin_port = htons(si.port_);
+
             if((addr.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(si.host_.c_str())) == INADDR_NONE) return -1;
 
             if((sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) < 0) return -2;
diff --git a/test/main.cpp b/test/main.cpp
index 8dd9a00..4607838 100644
--- a/test/main.cpp
+++ b/test/main.cpp
@@ -35,11 +35,16 @@ int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
     cout << ret << endl;
 
     // query from table
-    influxdb_cpp::server_info si_new("127.0.0.1", 8086, "", "test", "test");
     influxdb_cpp::query(resp, "show databases", si);
     cout << resp << endl;
 
+    // query from table, but use hostname instead of IP
+    influxdb_cpp::server_info si_hostname("localhost", 8086, "testx", "test", "test");
+    influxdb_cpp::query(resp, "show databases", si_hostname);
+    cout << resp << endl;
+
     // create_db
+    influxdb_cpp::server_info si_new("127.0.0.1", 8086, "", "test", "test");
     influxdb_cpp::create_db(resp, "x", si_new);
     cout << resp << endl;
     return 0;