Refer to the exhibit. An architect is designing an IPv4 plan using the 172.16.0.0/16. The design must maximize the number of subnets while meeting these requirements: - 500 hosts within the server…

A /21 subnet provides 2046 usable hosts (2^11 - 2), which is significantly more than the required 500, leading to wasted IP addresses and fewer available subnets overall.

A /23 subnet mask reserves 9 bits for host addresses (2^9 - 2 = 510 usable hosts), which is the smallest subnet that can accommodate the required 500 hosts for the server room. Using a /23 maximizes the remaining address space for other subnets, thus meeting the requirement to maximize the number of subnets.

While the /23 prefix for the server room is correct, option B is chosen as the correct answer, implying it represents the valid and complete plan.

A /22 subnet provides 1022 usable hosts (2^10 - 2), which is more than double the required 500, resulting in inefficient address utilization and fewer subnets.