To calculate the total number of IP addresses available on a network with a /26 subnet mask, we need to understand how subnet masks work.
IP addresses consist of 32 bits. The subnet mask indicates how many of those bits are allocated for the network address and how many are available for host addresses within that network.
A /26 mask means that 26 of the 32 bits are used for the network part of the address, which leaves us with 32 - 26 = 6 bits for the host addresses.
The formula to calculate the total number of IP addresses in a subnet is:
Total IP addresses = 2^number_of_host_bits
Since we have 6 bits available for host addresses, we can calculate the total number of IP addresses as follows:
Total IP addresses = 2^6 = 64
Thus, a network with a /26 subnet mask can have a total of 64 IP addresses. However, keep in mind that one address is reserved for the subnet's network address, and another is reserved for the subnet's broadcast address. Therefore, the number of usable IP addresses for hosts is typically 64 - 2 = 62.
But the question asks for the total number of IP addresses, not the number of usable addresses, so the correct answer from the provided options is:
64
