private InetAddress initAddress(DistributionConfig dc) {

    String bindAddress = dc.getBindAddress();

    try {
      /*
       * note: had to change the following to make sure the prop wasn't empty in addition to not
       * null for admin.DistributedSystemFactory
       */
      if (bindAddress != null && bindAddress.length() > 0) {
        return InetAddress.getByName(bindAddress);

      } else {
        return LocalHostUtil.getLocalHost();
      }
    } catch (java.net.UnknownHostException unhe) {
      throw new RuntimeException(unhe);

    }
  }
Returns the conduit over which this channel sends messages

@since GemFire 2.1
geode-core/src/main/java/org/apache/geode/distributed/internal/direct/DirectChannel.java