The slash following the IP address is the abbreviation for the subnet mask. The binary version of a subnet mask is going to be comprised of ones and zeros just as the binary verison of an IP address would be, however, the ones in a subnet mask are all consecutive. The amount of ones in the subnet mask is equal to the number of the abbreviation. For example, the /16 subnet mask you asked about ...
I know how to calculate the subnet mask. My question is: What is the last subnet mask that we can use for this IP. In case of subnetting, can we use 255.255.255.255 for this IP as the subnet mask or the last subnet mask that we can use is 255.255.255.252? I mean can we use all 32 bits in the creation of the subnet mask or we can only use 30 bits?
32 bits or 30 bits for subnet mask - Network Engineering Stack Exchange
The rule is: you cannot use the first and the last IP of a subnet. A subnet with a mask of 255.255.255.252 has 4 addresses in total, so 2 usable addreses. If we look only at the last octet, that means: 0 - network address 1 - usable address 2 - usable address 3 - broadcast address 4 - network address 5 - usable address 6 - usable address 7 - broadcast address 8 - network address 9 - usable ...
I have a question regarding subnet masks and my understanding (or misunderstanding of them). So when a subnet mask is used, a bitwise AND is performed using the subnet mask and the IP address(es).