Subnet Mask : How Important is It?
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The Internet Protocol or IP address which is used to uniquely identify each computer and its internet connection has two sections. These are the one section which identifies the host and the other section which identifies the network. A subnet mask is basically a model of bits which can be used to isolate the two sections.
How does the Subnet Mask Work?
In order to isolate the two sections of the IP address, you need the IP address and the Subnet or network mask. These numbers should then converted to binary and added or ANDed through a bitwise operation. Using the result the number of possible hosts is calculated by 2n-2 where n is the number of zero bits counting from the right to the first 1. The 2 is subtracted because one address will represent the network address and another will represent the broadcast address.
How important is Subnet Mask
Subnet masks can play a very important role in the communicating of networks. Using the IP address and subnet mask, information can be sent to network devices about the number of hosts that a IP address is allowed to have.
Another important function is that subnet mask can be used to determine whether or not the host network is on a remote network or on a local subnet. This information is very crucial as it will affect the response of the system. As mentioned above, subnet is also responsible for isolating the host and network section of an IP address and for reducing the amount of traffic facing the network.
