You have a network ID of 134.57.0.0 and you need to divide it into multiple subnets in which at least 600 host IDs for each subnet are available. You desire to have the largest amount of subnets available. Which subnet mask should you assign?

Solution (By Examveda Team)

To divide the network into multiple subnets and ensure at least 600 host IDs are available per subnet, we need to calculate the appropriate subnet mask that maximizes the number of subnets while satisfying the requirement of at least 600 hosts per subnet.

Step 1: Required Host IDs
At least 600 host IDs are needed for each subnet. To calculate the required number of bits, we use the formula: 2^h - 2 ≥ 600, where "h" is the number of host bits.
2¹⁰ - 2 = 1024 - 2 = 1022 host addresses, which is more than enough for 600 hosts.

Step 2: Subnet Mask Calculation
The default subnet mask for a Class B address (134.57.0.0) is 255.255.0.0.
To satisfy the 600 host requirement, 10 bits must be reserved for hosts. The remaining bits (16 - 10 = 6) can be used for subnetting.
This gives us a subnet mask of 255.255.248.0, which allows for 1024 hosts per subnet, fulfilling the requirement.

Step 3: Evaluating Other Options
Option A: 255.255.224.0 provides 8190 hosts per subnet, which is more than needed, but results in fewer subnets.

Option B: 255.255.240.0 provides 4094 hosts per subnet, which also exceeds the requirement but limits the number of subnets.

Option D: 255.255.255.0 provides only 254 hosts per subnet, which is insufficient for the requirement of at least 600 hosts.

Option E: 255.255.255.255 is not valid as a subnet mask for this purpose as it only allows 1 host.

Conclusion: The correct answer is Option C: 255.255.248.0, as it provides the largest number of subnets while allowing at least 600 host IDs per subnet.