I sort hash keys all the time. And IP sorting is easy when you include leading zeroes as you just did, but most IP's I see in log files are without leading zeroes, so ordering them would result in
1.2.3.4
10.2.3.4
104.2.3.4
11.2.3.4
2.2.3.4
23.2.108.4
23.2.3.4
23.2.30.4
23.2.4.4
and IMHO that sucks. Using packed keys sorting is always correct. If it is faster? No idea, Icould bench that, but I expect it to be marginal
Side note: I *always* sort hash keys in tests, as order is randow
Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn