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IP addresses in dot-decimal notation are also presented in CIDR notation, in which the IP address is suffixed with a slash and a number, used to specify the length of the associated routing prefix. For example, 127.0.0.1/8 specifies that the IP address has an eight-bit routing prefix, and therefore the subnet mask 255.0.0.0 .
A subnet mask is a bitmask that encodes the prefix length associated with an IPv4 address or network in quad-dotted notation: 32 bits, starting with a number of 1-bits equal to the prefix length, ending with 0-bits, and encoded in four-part dotted-decimal format: 255.255.255.0. A subnet mask encodes the same information as a prefix length but ...
The routing prefix of an address is identified by the subnet mask, written in the same form used for IP addresses. For example, the subnet mask for a routing prefix that is composed of the most-significant 24 bits of an IPv4 address is written as 255.255.255.0.
Some large / 8 blocks of IPv4 addresses, the former Class A network blocks, are assigned in whole to single organizations or related groups of organizations, either by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), or a regional Internet registry.
Prefix length: A matching route table entry with a longer subnet mask is always preferred as it specifies the destination more exactly. Metric: When comparing routes learned via the same routing protocol, a lower metric is preferred. Metrics cannot be compared between routes learned from different routing protocols.
The term subnet mask is only used within IPv4. Both IP versions however use the CIDR concept and notation. In this, the IP address is followed by a slash and the number (in decimal) of bits used for the network part, also called the routing prefix. For example, an IPv4 address and its subnet mask may be 192.0.2.1 and 255.255.255.0, respectively.
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In this case, the longest prefix of the candidate routes is 192.168.20.16/28, since its subnet mask (/28) is longer than the other entry's mask (/16), making the route more specific. Forwarding tables often contain a default route , which has the shortest possible prefix match, to fall back on in case matches with all other entries fail.