
Using the SubnetsDB File 135
How Subnet Grouping Works
4If you already have devices showing in the Map, reload the subnets attributes using the Reload Attributes dialog box, which you access from the Edit menu in the main window.
5Create a subnets grouping. See “Predefined Groupings” on page 43 for information on how to create a
6Apply the grouping.
Subnet grouping works in the following way:
■The subnet address and mask are combined with a Boolean AND operation to produce a key.
For example, when the subnet address 140.6.0.0 is given the Boolean AND command with the mask 255.255.0.0 the resulting key is:
140.6.0.0=10001100000001100000000000000000
255.255.0.0=11111111111111110000000000000000 Result of AND=10001100000001100000000000000000
■To determine whether a device qualifies for a subnet, the key value is compared with the value created by ANDing the subnet mask with the device's IP address. If these values are not equal, Traffix Manager does not accept the devices as part of the subnet.
For example, Traffix Manager has detected a device with the IP address 140.7.0.6. To determine whether the device qualifies for the pc subnet, Traffix Manager does the following calculation:
140.7.0.6=10001100000001110000000000000110
255.255.0.0=11111111111111110000000000000000 Result of AND=10001100000001110000000000000000
Since the results are not equal, Traffix Manager concludes that the device is not part of the pc subnet.
■When matching subnets and devices, Traffix Manager assumes that the best match for a device is the subnet with the most set bits in the mask.