Exploring the Differences: Subnet Mask vs Wildcard Mask Report

This report provides a detailed comparison between subnet masks and wildcard masks, essential components in networking. Subnet masks, 32-bit values, differentiate the network and host portions of an IP address, while wildcard masks specify which IP addresses are allowed or blocked. The report highlights that subnet masks determine the class of an IP address, whereas wildcard masks differentiate between allowed and blocked IP addresses, primarily used in extended access lists. Subnet masks support bit length expressions matching the network portion of IPv4 addresses from left to right, while wildcard masks offer more flexibility with lower contiguity requirements. Cisco certifies that wildcard masks use bits opposite from the subnet mask. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding these masks for maintaining secure IP address management within networks, making it a crucial area of study in the networking domain. The document includes references to books and journals.

Article writing 7
(Difference between
Subnet Mask
and Wildcard mask)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
References........................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Subnet mask is defined as the 32 bit number which is created by the setting host bits and the
setting network BITS in terms of 0s and 1s. Subnet masks separate its IP address into the host
addresses and the networks. Wildcard mask is defined as the mask bits which indicate the
different parts of an IP address that are available for the examination. It is used in different
places in order to indicate the network size or subnet for routing protocols (Yang, Chen, Liu and
Ranjan, 2019). The current article is based on the difference between the subnet mask and
wildcard mask.
MAIN BODY
subnet mask is a 32 bits value that differentiate the network portion and the host portion of an IP
address in which the network portion is denoted by one and the host portion is denoted by zero.
where the wild card mass defines which IP addresses are allowed and which are blocked in
which the zero is defined in an accurate match and the non zero value is defined any value which
is corresponding to the octet. Subnet mass is considered as the value which examines that from
which class the IP address is related where else the wild card mass differentiate among the
allowed and the block IP addresses which is ultimately used in the extended access list. Subnet
mass is basically the unfortunate product which converts the class full IP routing to the classless
IP routing which had already taken place a decade ago. IP addresses which are assigned our
basic lead based on the first few bits which contain the class which examines the network scope.
Classless inter domain routing is developed in order to provide the flexibility and less
complications in addressing the scheme which generally involves the variable lens subnet mass
that the network designer used today (Bhasin, D’Anvers, Heinz and Van Beirendonck, 2021).
Subnet mark supports only to express the bit length which matches the network portion of ipv4
addresses generally from left to right. Subnet mass is valued as 255.255.240.0 which is having
the same length of 20. It is a fact that there are only 33 possible ipv4 subnet masks which range
from 0.0.0.0 to 255.25 5.255.255. that is from 0 to 32. It is considered as the dotted decimal
notation which is sometimes painful in arranging but instead nowadays network designers are
going for the simple array of values which are the binary to decimal subnet mask calculation
taught in the networking classes. Wildcard mask as compared to the subnet mask has more
flexibility because there is low requirement for contiguity. Cisco certifies that there are bits
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which are opposite from the subnet mass so that the zero matches and one does not. It means that
it is considered as the common practice for the card mask in order to appear as the inverse of the
subnet mask in terms of networking. For example 0.0.0.255 matches The last octet of an IP
address that is 255.255.255.0 subnet. This results that not all the sorts of strange matches uses of
wildcard mask (Rajkumar, Farrher, Mauler and Herzog, 2021).
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that subnet mask and wild card mass is an important field of study under the
networking domain because it helps in maintaining the IP addresses of different systems in a
secure manner because it has the language of zero and one. Therefore it is important to analyse
differences between the subnet mask and wildcard mask. Hence the above discussion covers all
such areas in order to better understand the concept of subnet and wildcard mask.
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References
Books and Journals
Bhasin, S., D’Anvers, J.P., Heinz, D. and Van Beirendonck, M., 2021. Attacking and defending
masked polynomial comparison for lattice-based cryptography. IACR Transactions on
Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, pp.334-359.
Rajkumar, R., Farrher, E., Mauler, J. and Herzog, H., 2021. Comparison of EEG microstates
with resting state fMRI and FDG‐PET measures in the default mode network via
simultaneously recorded trimodal (PET/MR/EEG) data. Human brain mapping, 42(13),
pp.4122-4133.
Yang, C.T., Chen, S.T., Liu, J.C. and Ranjan, R., 2019. A predictive load balancing technique for
software defined networked cloud services. Computing, 101(3), pp.211-235.
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