In manually configured IPv4 addressing on a web server, which configuration property identifies the network and host portions of an IPv4 address?

The subnet mask is a critical configuration property in a manually configured IPv4 addressing scheme, as it delineates the network and host portions of an IPv4 address. An IPv4 address consists of 32 bits, divided into two parts: the network portion, which identifies the specific network to which the device belongs, and the host portion, which uniquely identifies a device within that network.

The subnet mask is also expressed in bits and typically appears in the same format as the IPv4 address (for example, 255.255.255.0). It works by using a series of consecutive 'ones' (1s) followed by 'zeros' (0s) in its binary representation. The 'ones' correspond to the bits that form the network portion, while the 'zeros' correspond to the bits that identify the host. This division allows devices on the same network to communicate efficiently while ensuring that routing is correctly managed, helping to minimize broadcast traffic and maximizing network performance.

In contrast, the default gateway refers to the IP address of a router on the same network that serves as an access point to other networks. The DNS server is responsible for translating domain names to IP addresses. The host ID is simply the portion of the IPv4 address that specifies