How many bits are in the NETWORK portion of the following address block: Address: 10.1.0.0, Subnet: 255.255.255.224?

To determine how many bits are in the network portion of the IP address block specified (10.1.0.0 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.224), it's essential to interpret the subnet mask in binary format.

The subnet mask 255.255.255.224 can be broken down as follows in binary:

• The octets (255.255.255) correspond to binary 11111111.11111111.11111111, contributing 24 bits for the network portion.

• The last octet of the subnet mask, 224, in binary is 11100000. This contributes an additional 3 bits for the network portion since the first three bits are set to '1'.

When you add these together, you get:

• 24 bits (from the first three octets) + 3 bits (from the last octet) = 27 bits.

Thus, the total number of bits in the network portion of the address block is 27. This means that the option indicating 27 bits is the correct choice, accurately reflecting the combination of the full 24 bits from the first three octets and the additional 3 bits from the fourth octet of the subnet mask.