255.255.255.254作为子网掩码不符合理论,因为在这个31位掩码下只有一个主机位,是没有有效IP地址的。
但像这种31位掩码在PPP数据链路层协议上能见到,该掩码下IP地址主要用于拨号线路上。
RFC1332文档上有一段说明这个问题:
This option provides the same address space
savings as using a 31-bit subnet mask, but may only be used in links using
PPP encapsulation [RFC1332]. The use of host addresses allows for the
assignment of IP addresses belonging to different networks at each side of the link,
causing link and network management not to be straight forward.
搜索RFC1332原文内容可以获得更多资料。