To address 60,000 clients, what subnet size should the network administrator use?

To determine the appropriate subnet size for addressing 60,000 clients, one must consider how many individual IP addresses each subnet size can provide.

Using a Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation, each subnet is defined by its prefix length, which indicates how many bits are used for the network portion of the address. The remaining bits are used for the host addresses.

A /8 subnet uses the first 8 bits for the network and allows for 2^(32-8) = 16,777,216 addresses, which is more than sufficient for 60,000 clients. However, this allocation is excessive for the requirement.

A /16 subnet uses the first 16 bits for the network portion and has the potential to address 2^(32-16) = 65,536 addresses. This size is appropriate because it comfortably accommodates the 60,000 clients while still allowing for some additional addresses, such as for network devices, routers, and future growth.

A /24 subnet allows for 2^(32-24) = 256 addresses, which falls significantly short of the required 60,000. Similarly, a /32 subnet designates a single address, which is not usable for a network of this