What is the subnet mask for a network that requires at least 500 usable IP addre
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the subnet mask for a network that requires at least 500 usable IP addresses?
255.255.255.0
255.255.254.0
255.255.255.128
255.255.255.192
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the subnet mask for a network that requires at least 500 usable IP addresses?
Step 1: Understand that each subnet has a certain number of total IP addresses, which includes usable addresses and reserved addresses (like the network and broadcast addresses).
Step 2: Determine how many total IP addresses you need. Since we need at least 500 usable addresses, we need to find the next power of 2 that is greater than or equal to 500. The next power of 2 is 512.
Step 3: Calculate the number of bits needed to represent 512 addresses. The formula is 2^n = total addresses, where n is the number of bits. For 512, n = 9 because 2^9 = 512.
Step 4: Subtract the number of bits used for the host addresses from 32 (the total number of bits in an IPv4 address). So, 32 - 9 = 23. This means we need a /23 subnet mask.
Step 5: Convert the /23 subnet mask to decimal format. A /23 subnet mask is 255.255.254.0.
