$/ = ":::\n"; # define ::: as paragraph delimiter

open(HOSTDB,"hostdb") or die "cannot open hostdb: $!";
while (<HOSTDB>) {
   chomp;
   push @records,map( { { split/:/ } } split/\n/ );  # updated to make hashrefs....
close HOSTDB;

my $count = 0;
for my $rec (@records) {
   print "record $count\n";
   print "hostname: $rec->{hostname}\n";
   print "ip: $rec->{ip}\n";
   $count++;
}

##</code><code>##

-- 
Joost       downtime n. The period during which a system
            is error-free and immune from user input.