What is the purpose of a network mask?
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A. B. C. D.B
B. It is used to define which parts of the IP address are allocated to host addresses and network prefixes.
A network mask, also known as a subnet mask, is a 32-bit value used in conjunction with an IP address to identify the network and host portions of the address. The network portion of the address is the part that identifies the specific network to which the host belongs, while the host portion identifies the individual host on that network.
The network mask is used to divide an IP address into two parts: the network portion and the host portion. The network portion is used to identify the network, while the host portion is used to identify the specific host on that network.
The network mask is a string of 1's and 0's that is the same length as the IP address. The 1's in the network mask identify the network portion of the IP address, while the 0's identify the host portion.
For example, consider the IP address 192.168.1.10 and the network mask 255.255.255.0. In binary, the IP address is:
11000000 10101000 00000001 00001010
And the network mask is:
11111111 11111111 11111111 00000000
By performing a logical AND operation between the IP address and the network mask, we can extract the network portion of the address:
11000000 10101000 00000001 00000000 (Network portion)
In this case, the network portion of the address is 192.168.1.0, and the host portion is 0.10.
Network masks are essential in IP networking because they allow multiple networks to exist on a single IP address range. By using different network masks, administrators can define different subnets within the same IP address range, each with its own unique network and host portions. This allows for efficient use of IP address space and helps to prevent IP address conflicts.