Network prefixes
Network prefixes
Network prefixes — is a set of IP addresses. Currently, the architecture of the Internet uses two versions of the protocol: IPv4, which consists of 32 bits, and IPv6, which consists of 128 bits. The 32-bit version of the fourth version allows the use of about 4 billion IP addresses, but even this is not enough for the Internet, which led to the appearance of IPv6. Another reason for its appearance is the address hierarchy, which simplifies routing.
Why is a network prefix needed? The aggregation size is set by the length of the prefix.
Aggregation — is the process of combining small prefixes with a long mask and a small number of hosts into large prefixes with a short mask and many hosts. Aggregation is necessary to minimize the data that the router must use when looking for a transmission path on the network.
For example, 192.50.128.0/17 determines the first 17 bits of an IP address to identify the address aggregation. The remaining 15 bits can be sub-aggregated or assigned to devices on the network to which the prefix belongs. (what network)