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Say we have the the IP address 10.2.8.230/24

Anyone could say the following:

It just represents a normal network:10.2.8.0/24

Or it is a subnet because normally this IP address is in the class A range,so that is 2^16 subnetworks

Or even,perhaps it is a supernet(not sure about this one(!))

How do we tell those apart?

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  • I would understand it to mean "the address is 10.2.8.230 and the mask is 255.255.255.0"
    – jonathanjo
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 13:11
  • Everything you wanted to know about IPv4 addressing is in this answer.
    – Ron Maupin ♦
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 14:16
  • Did any answer help you? If so, you should accept the answer so that the question doesn't keep popping up forever, looking for an answer. Alternatively, you can provide and accept your own answer.
    – Ron Maupin ♦
    Commented Dec 15, 2019 at 2:43

1 Answer 1

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IP address classes have been obsolete since before you were born. Subnet and supernet are in relation to other networks. So 10.2.8.0/24 is a subnet of 10.2.0.0/16, but a supernet of 10.2.8.16/28.

EDIT

Because address classes are no longer used, there aren't different types of masks. A network mask (also commonly called a subnet mask) simply defines the network and host portions of the address.

Also, the concept of "subnet bits" or "subnet ID" is similarly obsolete.

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  • If we had this address: 195.167.1.0/25 , then how would i know what the previous mask was?It could be /16 so the subnet id is 9 bits ,or, /24 and so the subnet id was given just one bit.Can you really distinguish the original mask?
    – Some1
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 10:50
  • 3
    There is no 'previous mask' or 'original mask' concept.
    – Teun Vink
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 11:29
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    Just to add to the confusion, the term "subnet" is also used generally for any network segment.
    – Ron Trunk
    Commented May 2, 2019 at 12:30

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