Overview of IP mask operation

The default IP Mask is 255.255.255.255 and allows switch access only to a station having an IP address that is identical to the Authorized manager IP parameter value. ("255" in an octet of the mask means that only the exact value in the corresponding octet of the Authorized manager IP parameter is allowed in the IP address of an authorized management station.) However, you can alter the mask and the Authorized manager IP parameter to specify ranges of authorized IP addresses. For example, a mask of 255.255.255.0 and any value for the Authorized manager IP parameter allows a range of 0 through 255 in the 4th octet of the authorized IP address, which enables a block of up to 254 IP addresses for IP management access (excluding 0 for the network and 255 for broadcasts). A mask of 255.255.255.252 uses the 4th octet of a given Authorized manager IP address to authorize four IP addresses for management station access. The details on how to use IP masks are provided under Configuring one station per Authorized manager IP entry.