IPv4 SubNetting

Subnetting
It allows you to take one larger network and break it into a bunch of smaller networks.

Advantages of Subnetting:
1. Reduced network traffic – Routers create broadcast domains. The more broadcast domains you
create, the smaller the broadcast domains and the less network traffic on each network
segment.

2. Optimized network performance – This is a result of reduced network traffic.

3. Simplified management – It’s easier to identify and isolate network problem in a group of
smaller connected networks than within one gigantic network.

4. Facilitated spanning of large geographical distances - A single large network that spans long
distances can create problem in every area. Connecting multiple smaller networks makes the
system more efficient.

How to create SubNet?

To create Sub Networks, we need to take bits from the host portion of the IP address and reserve them
to define the subnet address.

Subnet Mask
A mask used to determine what subnet an IP address belongs to. An IP address has two components,
the network address and the host address.

Understanding the power of 2

2 power of 1 = 2
2 power of 2 = 4
2 power of 3 = 8
2 power of 4 = 16
2 power of 5 = 32
2 power of 6 = 64
2 power of 7 = 128
2 power of 8 = 256
2 power of 9 = 512
 IPv4 SubNetting

2 power of 10 = 1,024
2 power of 11 = 2,048
2 power of 12 = 4,096
2 power of 13 = 8,192
2 power of 14 = 16,384

Default Subnet mask

Class A: 255.0.0.0
Class B: 255.255.0.0
Class C: 255.255.255.0

Host & Network Bits Config in IP Classes

CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing)

CIDR is a method for allocating IP addresses. The Internet Engineering Task Force introduced CIDR in
1993 to replace the previous addressing architecture of class full network design in the Internet. Their
goal was to slow the growth of routing tables on routers across the Internet, and to help slow the rapid
exhaustion of IPv4 addresses.
 IPv4 SubNetting

Quick Reference SubNet Mask

Classes Start End #Host

A 10.0.0.0 10.255.255.255 16,777,216
B 172.16.0.0 172.31.255.255 65,534
C 192.168.0.0 192.168.255.255 256
 IPv4 SubNetting

/8 255.0.0.0 16,777,214
/9 255.128.0.0 8,388,352
/10 255.192.0.0 4,194,176
/11 255.224.0.0 2,097,088
/12 255.240.0.0 1,048,544
/13 255.248.0.0 524,272
/14 255.252.0.0 262,136
/15 255.254.0.0 131,068
/16 255.255.0.0 65,024
/17 255.255.128.0 32,512
/18 255.255.192.0 16,256
/19 255.255.224.0 8,128
/20 255.255.240.0 4,064
/21 255.255.248.0 2,032
/22 255.255.252.0 1,016
/23 255.255.254.0 508
/24 255.255.255.0 254
/25 255.255.255.128 124
/26 255.255.255.192 62
/27 255.255.255.224 30
/28 255.255.255.240 14
/29 255.255.255.248 6
/30 255.255.255.252 2

Subnetting of class C Address –

In a class C address, only8 bits are available for defining the hosts. And rest of the bits is defined for the
Networks. Remember that subnet bits start at the left and go the right, without skipping bits. This
means that the only class c subnet masks can be following.

Binary Decimal CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing)

---------------------------------------------------------
10000000 = 128 /25
11000000 = 192 /26
11100000 = 224 /27
11110000 = 240 /28
11111000 = 248 /29
11111100 = 252 /30

We can’t use a /31 or /32 because we have to have at least 2 host bits for assigning IP address to hosts.
 IPv4 SubNetting

Step 1: How many subnets in the network?

Number of subnets = 2x
11000000
22 = 4

Step 2: How many hosts per subnet?

Number of host = 2y - 2
26 – 2 = 62

Step 3: What are the valid subnets?

256 – Subnet mask = block size

An example would be 256 – 192 = 64. The block size of a 192 mask is always 64. Start counting at
zero in blocks of 64 until you reach the subnet mask value and these are your subnets.

0, 64, 128, 192.

Step 4: What’s the broadcast address for each subnet?

The broadcast address is always the number right before the next subnet. The 0 subnet has a
broadcast address of 63 because the next subnet is 64. The 64 subnet has a broadcast address of
127 because the next subnet is 128, etc.

Step 5: What are the valid hosts?

Valid hosts are the numbers between the subnets, omitting all the 0s and all 1s. For example, if 64
are the subnet number and 127 is the broadcast address, then 65–126 is the valid host range—it’s
always the numbers between the subnet address and the broadcast address.

Subnetting Practice Examples:

 Class C Addresses
Example 1: 192.168.10.0 /25

Subnet mask = 255.255.255.128 How many subnets = 21 =2

How many hosts per subnets = 27 – 2 = 126 hosts
What are the valid subnets = 256-128.
Our subnets are 0 and 128.
 IPv4 SubNetting

What are the Broadcast address = for 0 subnet 127, for 128 subnet 255.

Subnet 0 128
First Host 1 129
Last Host 126 254
Broadcast 127 255

Example 2: 192.168.10.0 /26

Subnet mask = 255.255.255.192

How many subnets? Since 192 are 2 bits on (11000000), the answer would be 22 = 4

How many hosts per subnet? We have 6 host bits off (11000000), so the equation would be 26 – 2 = 62
hosts.

What are the valid subnets? 256 – 192 = 64. Remember, we start at zero and count in our block size, so
our subnets are 0, 64, 128, and 192.

What’s the broadcast address for each subnet? The number right before the value of the next subnet is
all host bits turned on and equals the broadcast address. 63,127,191,255.

What are the valid hosts? These are the numbers between the subnet and broadcast address. The
easiest way to find the hosts is to write out the subnet address and the broadcast address. This way, the
valid hosts are obvious. The following table shows the 0, 64, 128, and 192 subnets, the valid host ranges
of each, and the broadcast address of each subnet:

Subnet 0 64 127 192

First Host 1 65 129 193
Last Host 62 126 190 254
Broadcast 63 127 191 255

Example 3: 192.168.10.0/27

Subnet Mask 255.255.255.224

How many subnets? 224 are 11100000, so our equation would be 23=8.

How many hosts? 25 – 2 = 30.

What are the valid subnets? 256 – 224 = 32. We just start at zero and count to the subnet mask value in
blocks (increments) of 32: 0, 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, and 224.
 IPv4 SubNetting

The subnet address 0 32 64 96 128 160 192 224

The first valid host 1 33 65 97 129 161 193 225
The last valid host 30 62 94 126 158 190 222 254
The broadcast address 31 63 95 127 159 191 223 255

Example 4: 192.168.10.0/28

Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.240

Subnets = 24 =16
Hosts = 24 -2 = 14
Valid Subnets = 256-240 = 16

Subnet 0 16 240
First Host 1 17 241
Last Host 14 30 254
Broadcast 15 31 255

Example 5: 192.168.10.0/29

Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.248

Subnets = 25 = 32
Hosts = 23 -2 = 6
Valid Subnets = 256-248 = 8

Subnet 0 8 248
First Host 1 9 249
Last Host 6 14 254
Broadcast 7 15 255

Example 6: 192.168.10.0/30

Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.252

Subnets = 26 = 64
Hosts = 22 -2 = 2
Valid Subnets = 256-252 = 4

Subnet 0 4 252
First Host 1 5 253
Last Host 2 6 254
Broadcast 3 7 255
 IPv4 SubNetting

 Class B Subnetting
Example 1: 172.16.0.0/17

Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.128.0

Subnets = 21 =2
Hosts = 215 -2 = 32766
Valid Subnets = 256-128 = 128

Subnet 0.0 128.0

First Host 0.1 128.1
Last Host 127.254 255.254
Broadcast 127.255 255.255

Remember that Subnetting is performed in the third octet, so the subnet numbers are really 0.0, and
128.0, as shown on the above table.

Example 2: 172.16.0.0/18

Subnet Mask = 255.255.192.0

Subnets =22 = 4
Host = 214 -2 =16382
Valid subnets = 256-192 = 64

Subnet 0.0 64.0 128.0 192.0

First Host 0.1 64.1 128.1 192.1
Last Host 63.254 127.254 191.254 255.254
Broadcast 63.255 127.255 191.255 255.255

Example 3: 172.16.0.0/20

Subnet Mask = 255.255.240.0

Subnets 24 = 16
Hosts 212 -2 = 4096
Valid Subnets = 256-240 = 16

Subnet 0.0 16.0 32.0 240.0

First Host 0.1 16.1 32.1 240.1
Last Host 15.254 31.254 47.254 255.254
Broadcast 15.255 31.255 47.255 255.255

Example 4: 172.16.0.0/23

Subnet Mask = 255.255.254.0

Subnets 27 = 128
Hosts 29 -2 = 510
Valid subnets 256-254 = 0, 2,4,6,8 up to 254
 IPv4 SubNetting

Subnet 0.0 2.0 4.0 254.0

First Host 0.1 2.1 4.1 254.1
Last Host 1.254 3.254 5.254 255.254
Broadcast 1.255 3.255 5.255 255.255

Example 5: 172.16.0.0/24

Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0

Subnets = 28 =256
Hosts =28 -2 = 254
Valid subnets = 256-255 = 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way to 255.

Subnet 0.0 1.0 2.0 254.0 255.0

First Host 0.1 1.1 2.1 254.1 255.1
Last Host 0.254 1.254 2.254 254.254 255.254
Broadcast 0.255 1.255 2.255 254.255 255.255

Example 6: 172.16.0.0 /25

Subnet mask = 255.255.255.128

Subnets = 29 = 512
Hosts = 27 – 2 = 126
Valid subnets? Okay, now for the tricky part. 256-255 = 1. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.
But you can’t forget the one subnet bit used in the fourth octet.

Subnet 0.0 0.128 1.0 1.128 2.0 255.128

First Host 0.1 0.129 1.1 1.129 2.1 255.129
Last host 0.126 0.254 1.126 1.254 2.126 255.254
Broadcast 0.127 0.255 1.127 1.255 2.127 255.255

Example 7: 172.16.0.0/26

Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.192

Subnets =210 = 1024
Hosts = 26 -2 = 62
Valid Subnets = 256-192 = 64

Subnet 0.0 0.64 0.128 1.0 255.192

First Host 0.1 0.65 0.129 1.1 255.193
Last Host 0.62 0.126 0.190 1.62 255.254
Broadcast 0.63 0.127 0.191 1.63 255.255
 IPv4 SubNetting

Example 8: 172.16.0.0 /27

Subnet mask = 255.255.255.224

Subnets =211 = 2048
Hosts = 25 -2 = 30
Valid subnets 256 -224 = 32. 0, 32, 64, 96,128….224

Subnet 0.0 0.32 0.224 255.0 255.224

First Host 0.1 0.33 0.225 255.1 255.225
Last Host 0.30 0.62 0.254 255.30 255.254
Broadcast 0.31 0.63 0.255 255.31 255.255

 Class A Subnetting
Example 1: 10.0.0.0/16

Subnets = 28 = 256
Hosts = 216 – 2 = 65,534
Valid Subnets 256-255 = 1.0, 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.

Subnet 10.0.0.0 10.1.0.0 10.254.0.0 10.255.255.0.0

First host 10.0.0.1 10.1.0.1 10.254.0.1 10.255.0.1
Last host 10.0.255.254 10.1.255.254 10.254.255.254 10.255.255.254
Broadcast 10.0.255.255 10.1.255.255 10.254.255.255 10.255.255.255

Example 2: 10.0.0.0 /20

Subnet Mask = 255.255.240.0

Subnets = 212 = 4096
Hosts =212 -2 4094
Valid subnets = 256-240 =16

Subnet 10.0.0.0 10.0.16.0 10.0.32.0 10.255.240.0

First Host 10.0.0.1 10.0.16.1 10.0.32.1 10.255.240.1
Last Host 10.0.15.254 10.0.31.254 10.0.47.254 10.255.255.254
Broadcast 10.0.15.255 10.0.31.255 10.0.47.255 10.255.255.255

Example 3: 10.0.0.0/26

Subnet mask = 255.255.255.192

Subnets 218 = 262,144
Hosts = 26 -2 = 62
 IPv4 SubNetting

Valid Subnets? In the second and third octet, the block size is 1, and in the fourth octet, the block size is
64.

Subnet 10.0.0.0 10.0.0.64 10.0.0.128 10.255.255.0 10.255.255.192

First Host 10.0.0.1 10.0.0.65 10.0.0.129 10.255.255.1 10.255.255.193
Last host 10.0.0.62 10.0.0.126 10.0.0.190 10.255.255.62 10.255.255.254
Broadcast 10.0.0.63 10.0.0.127 10.0.0.191 10.255.255.63 10.255.255.255

VLSM
A way to take one network and create many networks using subnet masks of different lengths on
different types of network designs.

Summarization
Summarization, also called route aggregation, allows routing protocols to advertise many networks as
one address. The purpose of this is to reduce the size of routing tables on routers to save memory.