What is a Subnet Mask?

A subnet mask is a 32-Bit wide Variety used to differentiate the commUnity thing of an IP deal with by using dividing the IP cope with into a Network cope with and Host address. It does so with bit arithmetic wherein a commuNity deal with is bit improved by way of the subnet masks screen the underlying Subnetwork. Like the IP cope with, a subnet masks is written the use of the “dotted-Decimal” notation.

A subnet masks is likewise referred to as an deal with masks.

What Does Subnet Mask Mean?

Subnet mask are used to design subnetworks, or subnets, that connect nearby networks. It determines each the variety and size of subnets where the size of a subnet is the Range of hosts that can be addressed.

In simplistic terms, you can create a subnet mask with the aid of taking the 32-bit price of an present IP cope with, deciding on how many subnets you need to create or as an alternative, what number of Nodes you need on each subnet, after which putting all next community bits to “1” and host bits to “0”. The ensuing 32-bit value is your subnet mask.

A subnet masks also pinpoints the endpoints of the range of IP addresses for a subnet. In any given community, host addresses are always reserved for unique Functions. The “0” deal with will become the Network Address or community idEntity and the “255” address is assigned as a published address. These can't be assigned to a number.