subnetmask
A subnet mask is a 32-bit value used in IPv4 networking to divide an IP address into a network portion and a host portion. It is applied to an address with a bitwise AND operation to derive the network address. Subnetting uses masks to partition a larger network into smaller subnets, which helps organize networks, improves routing efficiency, and limits broadcast domains.
In dotted-decimal form it is written like 255.255.255.0, and in CIDR notation as /24 appended to an
Example: 192.168.1.0/24 with mask 255.255.255.0 yields network address 192.168.1.0. Usable hosts range 192.168.1.1 through 192.168.1.254, and
Common private IPv4 ranges and defaults include 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, and 192.168.0.0/16. Home networks often employ a
In IPv6, the concept of a subnet mask is replaced by a prefix length. Subnetting is expressed