What is the significance of a slash followed by a number in CIDR notation?

In CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) notation, the significance of a slash followed by a number is that it denotes the subnet mask length. This number indicates how many bits are used for the network portion of the IP address. For example, in the CIDR notation of 192.168.1.0/24, the "/24" means that the first 24 bits of the address are used to identify the network, while the remaining bits (in this case, 8 bits) can be used for host addresses within that network.

This information is crucial for routing traffic on the internet, as it allows for more efficient allocation of IP addresses and enables the grouping of IP addresses into varying sizes of networks. This flexibility in defining subnets helps reduce the size of routing tables and improves overall network performance. Hence, understanding the subnet mask length is essential for network design, management, and troubleshooting.

Other options might touch upon concepts related to networking but do not accurately describe the function of the slash notation in CIDR. For example, while one might think about the type of network or the maximum number of hosts, those are determined by additional calculations based on the subnet mask, rather than what the CIDR notation itself represents. Similarly