Masks Divide the Subnet’s Addresses into Two Parts
The subnet mask subdivides the IP addresses in a subnet into two parts: the prefix, or subnet part, and the host part.
The prefix part identifies the addresses that reside in the same subnet, because all IP addresses in the same subnet have the same value in the prefix part of their addresses. The idea is much like the postal code (ZIP codes in the United States) in mailing addresses. All mailing addresses in the same town have the same postal code. Likewise, all IP addresses in the same subnet have identical values in the prefix part of their addresses.
The host part of an address identifies the host uniquely inside the subnet. If you compare any two IP addresses in the same subnet, their host ...
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