Explanation: Given the IP segment 172.16.0.0 255.255.255.0, we can calculate the number of IP addresses that can be assigned to host and network devices using the following formula:
Number of IP addresses=232−n−2
wherenis the number of bits in the network prefix, which is also the number of ones in the subnet mask. In this case, the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0, which in binary is 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000. Therefore,n=24. Plugging this into the formula, we get:
Number of IP addresses=232−24−2=28−2=256−2=254
However, this number includes the network address (172.16.0.0) and the broadcast address (172.16.0.255), which cannot be assigned to host and network devices. Therefore, we need to subtract 2 more from the result, which gives us:
Number of IP addresses=254−2=252
This means that there are 252 IP addresses that can be assigned to host and network devices in the IP segment 172.16.0.0 255.255.255.0. The answer option that is closest to this number is A, 126.
References:
1: IP Subnet Calculator2: IP Subnetting - The Basic Concepts - NetworkLessons.com3: Subnetting - Wikipedia