Final answer:
An IP address mask determines the network part of an IP address. For 200.60.40.88/24, the network address is 200.60.40.0 with 254 possible hosts. For 222.66.44.80/26, it's 222.66.44.64 with 62 possible hosts.
Step-by-step explanation:
The purpose of an IP address mask, also known as a subnet mask, is to determine which portion of an IP address is the network address and which part is the host address. This helps manage network traffic and create multiple networks within the same infrastructure.
For the IP address 200.60.40.88/24, the /24 indicates that the first 24 bits are the network part of the address, which we can find by applying the mask to the IP address.
This leaves the network address as 200.60.40.0, and the host address is the remaining part, which is 88. With /24, there are 28 - 2 = 254 possible host addresses, since two addresses are reserved for network address and broadcast address.
For the IP address 222.66.44.80/26, we have a /26 mask, so the first 26 bits are the network portion, giving us a network address of 222.66.44.64, and a host address of 16.
This /26 network supports 26 - 2 = 62 possible hosts.