Rationale behind cidr-notation on a single ip

[xeor]

When creating a single ip in netbox (/ipam/ip-addresses/...), it clearly states that the address must be defined as IPv4 or IPv6 address (with mask).

I have looked around to find the rationale behind this.

• An ip belongs to a subnet anyway, shouldn't this mask be calculated?
• It feels very redundant
• Netbox won't stop me creating ip's with mask outside of it's subnet.
• It is somewhat confusing that this is a requirement.

I got some theories tho

• It is technically valid to define a host with an ip and subnet that is outside what it really belongs to. Not sure if there is any reason tho.
• It makes the database and query design more optimised
• It makes the ipv6 way of defining an ip more in-line with the ipv4 way.

Please help me understand this little design-choice

[kkthxbye-code]

Not sure if you saw, it's not easy to find, but there's some rationale here:

https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions#why-does-netbox-require-every-ip-to-have-a-mask

[xeor]

doh.. I didn't see that. Thanks!