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I'll admit I have a lot of reading to catch up with to reach the level of understanding about networks that I'd like to have. Well, specifically, subnetting.
After some going back and forth with ChatGPT for about half an hour (trying to get it to rephrase its answers to try to show it that previous answers were clearly wrong), I've only managed to become less certain about many things, but I'm hoping I've at least come to one correct conclusion:
I want the valid IP range on my home network to be restricted to 192.168.X.Y, where X ranges from 1 through 31, and Y ranges from 1 through 254 (with the understanding that, for all intents and purposes, you never directly assign [whatever].0 or [whatever].255 to a device).
So, the subnet I should be using is 255.255.224.0 (so for the third octet I could use everything between 1 through 31).
What I haven't been able to get out of ChatGPT is whether a machine configured with an IP between 192.168.32.1 and 192.168.255.254 would fail to reach the rest of the systems on 192.168.[1-31].[1-254]. It sounds right to me, but until I try, I'm just guessing.
Generally, I configure all of my systems with a static IPv4 address. And I want all systems within my network to be able to see each other, just to keep things simple.
Am I right at least so far, with that subnet of 255.255.224.0?
Further discussion:
The idea is - for the third octet - the 255 devices under "1" would be my physical machines. My laptops would be under "2". Printers under "3". My first VM host would be at 10 (192.168.10.1). VMs it hosts would be 192.168.10.2 through .254. My second VM host would be 192.168.11.1; its VMs would range from 192.168.11.2 through 254, etc.
Of course that leaves some big gaps within each range, but it does keep things organized (at least in my mind it does). I'm no network admin; do people segregate things this way?
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dandy72 wrote: do people segregate things this way?
No, it is overkill. If the number of hosts is under 255, and I suspect for a home network this is the case, You can just use a traditional netmask like 255.255.255.0. If you want to "organize" hosts you can still do something like 1 to 30 computers; 40 to 100 VMs; printers, something else.
If you set a netmask like you want 255.255.224.0, that is also, ok but it's not going to exclude the hosts with 0 and 255. So a host like 192.168.2.0 is perfectly acceptable Only the end for the range is going to be treated differently: the 192.168.31.255 is going to be the broadcast address for your network.
Sub-netting is usually done for the exact opposite of your reason: when you want hosts not to be visible outside their own sub-nets.
More thoughts:
- set up a DHCP server for random things that land on your network (phones, friends, etc.). Give it a range distinct from your fixed hosts.
- set up a DNS server and give meaningful names to your devices instead of relying on IP addresses.
I'm using a RPi for both the DNS and DHCP server. It is more than enough for my needs.
Mircea
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Some good thoughts in there, thanks for that.
I probably do have less than 255 devices (VMs included), but if I want set ranges within a total max of 255 entries, it won't be long before I run out of space and just go back to having to find a gap somewhere, and it'll be ad-hoc again.
I didn't bring DHCP into the discussion just to keep it simple. I do want to let my router assign (say) .1 through .25 for random devices that show up, but stick with static IPs for everything else that should "always be present".
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Start thinking about subnet as a single number, such as 24 for 255.255.255.0. This makes your life easier, when working with subnets, not equal to 24 and 16.
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Not dissing Chris, but the stupidity of Microsoft never ceases to enrage and mystify me. Most companies are started from enraged employees/customers that know they can do it better, and they do... anyway...
So, let's talk Windows 11 and the bs that MS blows our way for UI improvements. Rounded icons, ads in the startup bar, ever invasive AI, yada yada. Well I work on a laptop 99% of the time. I'm not that mobile, I just like the size. I have Windows 10 and 11 on multiple machines. Today all I wanted to do on my Windows 11 laptop was to turn off the touchpad when a mouse was connected. It's a fairly common thing users want to do.
So, where do I find it? The setting is hidden under a drop down bar where you just have to be intuitive/desperate enough to keep clicking. Help is useless, and most of the doc on Windows 11 trails the ui... what a steaming pile of debris.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Windows 11 needs a massive, massive cleanout. The full Marie Kondo treatment.
The update UI that wraps the older UI that wraps the win 10 UI which wraps the Win7 UI which wraps the Win95 has, I feel, reached the tipping point of collapse. Just right click on the desktop and then select "Show more options" as Exhibit A that the UX Product Manager just gave up. Removing quick tasks from the contect menu of taskbar icons was their way of saying "I hate the World".
cheers
Chris Maunder
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What I find amusing is when I use programs that draws client window frames using the Win7 UI style. I would prefer they go back to the XP or W7 UI style because I detest the phone-style UI they use currently.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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charlieg wrote: ads in the startup bar
The worse the economy gets the more prevalent this will become. The big wigs know something the average person refuses to believe as they get brainwashed by TV.
But, you know... happy hump day. 
Jeremy Falcon
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"happy hump day"
that used to mean some nsfw different to me, but then I got older.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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 If memory serves "Hump Day" was Wednesday many moons ago.
But I agree: "The worse the economy gets the more prevalent this will become."
When technology doesn't get it right, cutting corners is one of the causes.
"A little time, a little trouble, your better day"
Badfinger
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charlieg wrote: ads in the startup bar
I haven't made the jump to 11, but I know it'll happen. Has nobody yet figured out what IP(s) can be safely blocked to prevent those from being downloaded in the first place, without breaking the rest of the OS?
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I am about ready to put microsoft.com in my HOSTS file to have it blocked. I am certain that will have some interesting fallout.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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Wait until you read about their plans for W12. YIKES!
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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And their plans for Recall[^] which really make you want to "get your ass to Mars". 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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On my laptops (MSI and Gigabyte) there is a key combination that does that. Something like Fn+F3 or another function key.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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Microsoft's choices over the last several years are appalling. Windows 11's UI changes are awful, and the injection of ads everywhere is worse. This latest upcoming "Recall" feature that will chew up your disk space for no discernable benefit and huge privacy drawbacks has put me over the edge. I've been talking for years about switching to MacOs for my daily driver, and this week Microsoft convinced me that was the right choice. I can't completely escape Windows - I support applications for Windows servers, but MY main computer will not be Windows moving forward.
--Avonelle
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I've been using Windows 10 on an iMac for years with a secondary monitor. This year I've switched to macOS as my main dev system on the iMac, and the other screen is used for my win11, Ubuntu, Debian or mac mini machine. Lots of juggling.
I'm working on the iMac on one file, and on the mac mini on the same file, but a different version. I was wishing I could just copy from one to the other, but they are on different machines. Then, without thinking, I copied some text, dragged the cursor from one screen to the other, and then pasted.
I totally forgot about macOS Universal control. It was so intuitive I wasn't even aware of what I was doing: it just worked the way I expected it to (but had I thought about it, I would have not expected it to work).
I love UI/UX like that. It's like the perfect butler: they are there before you even realise you need them, and then step back once the job is done. But without the whole moral issues thing and all that.
I wish we all had the time and resources and mental space to write software that worked like this.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote: I wish we all had the time and resources and mental space to write software that worked like this.
It's been my experience that companies will spend hundreds of thousands so people can argue over a text box for months and call that innovation. 
Jeremy Falcon
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Or spend millions in court aguing over ownership of the shape of a corner!
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Chris Maunder wrote: I was wishing I could just copy from one to the other, but they are on different machines. Then, without thinking, I copied some text, dragged the cursor from one screen to the other, and then pasted.
It came with the Logitech mouse drivers, maybe four or five years ago. I never worked with "i" stuff, but if I remember the documentation right, it worked across OSes.
I never saw a standard protocol for cut & paste across internet - maybe it exists, maybe it even existed then. Most likely, Logitech devised its proprietary cut & paste protocol between its drivers. They are just talking to themselves, need not relate to other mice or OSes (except that the mouse driver will have to know how to do both copy and paste on the local system - but if you write a driver for an OS, you are likely to know that!), so there really isn't that much need for a world standard protocol.
Religious freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make five.
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Sort of like Synergy? Synergy - Share one mouse & keyboard across computers Although that's sort of the other way around, perhaps being best described as a software KVM switch, that allowed you to cut & paste between systems. Maybe drag-and-drop, too. It's been a long time since I used it, but your description of rang a bell for me. So, if you're looking for something to do this, and you have windows/mac/linux systems, it might be a solution for you.
"A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants"
Chuckles the clown
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I would love to have something like this, Microsoft supports this, but you have to login to the Microsoft ID. I refuse to do so. i have an app in the works...
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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We used to use Synergy in our industrial applications. We had to split the processing load between five different machines and Synergy allowed us to easily control all of them with one keyboard and mouse. Those machines were installed about thirteen years ago.
Late last year we replaced all five machines, which were 4U boxes that each had dual six-core Xeons, with a single 2U box that has a single Ryzen 7950X (16 cores) and the performance is more than twice as fast as it used to be. We couldn't find this package commercially so we build them ourselves. Those five old machines cost about 6K each then (30K total) and the new one costs less than 2K in parts. Incidentally, we tried a machine with a 24-core EPYC CPU and another with dual 16-core EPYCs and this Ryzen is faster than both of them. We also used the EPYCs to host a high-powered GPU (A100 or A40) but our problem is so complex that the Ryzen CPU is faster than the GPUs and the CPUs by themselves. Now we use the EPYCs and GPUs for AI training and they work great for that.
Technology marches on.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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I use Input Director, a very good KVM style tool that has copy/paste among other neat little features. And it is free.
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I used synergy some years ago across a couple of Windows boxes and a Linux box and I'm sure a Sun box was in the mix somewhere, too - it just worked really well.
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