In the networking section of the OpenBSD FAQ it suggests reading
"Understanding IP addressing":

http://www.3com.com/other/pdfs/infra/corpinfo/en_US/501302.pdf

I'm having a hard time understanding it. In many places they use 2
numbers, e.g. 2(21) or 232 (4,294,967,296). Can you understand what they
are saying?

For example, on page 3:

"IPv4 defines a 32-bit address which means that there are
only 232 (4,294,967,296) IPv4 addresses available."

232 what?

On page 11:

"The first step in the planning process is to take the maximum number of
subnets required and round up to the nearest power of two. For example,
if an organization needs nine subnets, 23 (or 8) will not provide
enough subnet addressing space, so the network administrator will
need to round up to 24 (or 16)."

23 or 8 what? Bits? What are 23 and 8 alternatives of? 24 or 16 looks
like alternative prefix lengths for class A or B networks, but I don't
get 23 or 8.

Kendall