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Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) : Properties of CIDR Block

Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) allows for more efficient allocation of IP address blocks. It allocates only the number of addresses demanded by a customer, avoiding waste. CIDR uses a notation of IP address/prefix length to specify the network and host portions of an address. This reduces routing table entries and better manages address space. However, CIDR makes routing more complex compared to traditional address classes. The IP addresses in a CIDR block must be contiguous, the block size must be a power of 2, and the first address must be divisible by the block size.

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46 views14 pages

Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) : Properties of CIDR Block

Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) allows for more efficient allocation of IP address blocks. It allocates only the number of addresses demanded by a customer, avoiding waste. CIDR uses a notation of IP address/prefix length to specify the network and host portions of an address. This reduces routing table entries and better manages address space. However, CIDR makes routing more complex compared to traditional address classes. The IP addresses in a CIDR block must be contiguous, the block size must be a power of 2, and the first address must be divisible by the block size.

Uploaded by

sara
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR)

Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) is a group of IP addresses that are allocated


to the customer when they demand a fixed number of IP addresses.
In CIDR there is no wastage of IP addresses because only the numbers of IP
addresses that are demanded by the customer are allocated to the customer.
The group of IP addresses is called Block in Classless Inter - Domain (CIDR).
CIDR follows CIDR notation or Slash notation. The representation of CIDR notation
is x.y.z.w /n the x.y.z.w is IP address and n is called mask or number of bits that are
used in network id.

Properties of CIDR Block


The properties of CIDR block are as follows −

 The IP addresses in a block are continuous.


 The first address of a block should be exactly divisible by the number of
addresses of a block.
 The size of the Block should be power of 2.

Use of CIDR
Variable-length subnet masking is the foundation of CIDR (VLSM). It can now
specify prefixes of any duration, making it much more powerful than the previous
method.
Two collections of numbers make up CIDR IP addresses. The network address is
written as a prefix, similar to how an IP address is written (e.g. 192.255.255.255).
The suffix, which means how many bits are in the whole address (e.g. /12), is the
second component. A CIDR IP address will look anything like this when put together
−
192.255.255.255/12
As part of the IP address, the network prefix is also defined. These changes are
based on how many bits are needed. As an illustration, in the above example, the
first 12 bits of the address are for the network, while the last 20 bits are for
host addresses.
CIDR Notation
Using CIDR we can assign an IP address to host without using standard id address
classes like Class A, B, and C.
In CIDR we simply tell how many bits are used for network id. The network id bits are
provided after the '/' symbol. Like /10 means 10 bits are used for the network id part
and remaining 32-10=22 bits are used for the host id part.
The advantage of using CIDR notation is that it reduces the number of entries in the
routing table and also it manages the ip address space.

Disadvantages
The disadvantages of using CIDR Notation are as follows −

 Using CIDR it is complex to determine the route. By using classful addresses,


we are directly having separate tables for class A, Class B, Class C.
 So we directly go to these tables by seeing the prefix of IP address. But by
using CIDR, we don't have these tables separately. All entries are placed in a
single table. So, it is difficult to find a route.

Rules for forming CIDR Blocks:


1. All IP addresses must be contiguous.
2. Block size must be the power of 2 (2 n).
If the size of the block is the power of 2, then it will be easy to
divide the Network. Finding out the Block Id is very easy if the block
size is of the power of 2.
Example:
If the Block size is 25 then, Host Id will contain 5 bits and Network
will contain 32 – 5 = 27 bits.

3. First IP address of the Block must be evenly divisible by the size of


the block. in simple words, the least significant part should always
start with zeroes in Host Id. Since all the least significant bits of
Host Id is zero, then we can use it as Block Id part.
Example:
Check whether 100.1.2.32 to 100.1.2.47 is a valid IP address block or not?
1. All the IP addresses are contiguous.
2. Total number of IP addresses in the Block = 16 = 2 4.
3. 1st IP address: 100.1.2.00100000
Since, Host Id will contains last 4 bits and all the least significant 4
bits are zero. Hence, first IP address is evenly divisible by the size
of the block.
All the three rules are followed by this Block. Hence, it is a valid IP address
block.
IPv6 Tutorial
Internet Protocol version 6 is a new addressing protocol designed to incorporate all
the possible requirements of future Internet known to us as Internet version 2. This
protocol as its predecessor IPv4, works on the Network Layer (Layer-3). Along with
its offering of an enormous amount of logical address space, this protocol has
ample features to which address the shortcoming of IPv4.

Why New IP Version?


So far, IPv4 has proven itself as a robust routable addressing protocol and has
served us for decades on its best-effort-delivery mechanism. It was designed in the
early 80’s and did not get any major change afterward. At the time of its birth,
Internet was limited only to a few universities for their research and to the
Department of Defense. IPv4 is 32 bits long and offers around 4,294,967,296 (2 32)
addresses. This address space was considered more than enough that time. Given
below are the major points that played a key role in the birth of IPv6:
 Internet has grown exponentially and the address space allowed by IPv4 is
saturating. There is a requirement to have a protocol that can satisfy the
needs of future Internet addresses that is expected to grow in an unexpected
manner.
 IPv4 on its own does not provide any security feature. Data has to be
encrypted with some other security application before being sent on the
Internet.
 Data prioritization in IPv4 is not up to date. Though IPv4 has a few bits
reserved for Type of Service or Quality of Service, but they do not provide
much functionality.
 IPv4 enabled clients can be configured manually or they need some address
configuration mechanism. It does not have a mechanism to configure a
device to have globally unique IP address.

Why Not IPv5?


Till date, Internet Protocol has been recognized has IPv4 only. Version 0 to 3 were
used while the protocol was itself under development and experimental process.
So, we can assume lots of background activities remain active before putting a
protocol into production. Similarly, protocol version 5 was used while experimenting
with the stream protocol for Internet. It is known to us as Internet Stream Protocol
which used Internet Protocol number 5 to encapsulate its datagram. It was never
brought into public use, but it was already used.
Here is a table of IP versions and how they are used:

Brief History
After IPv4’s development in the early 80s, the available IPv4 address pool begun to
shrink rapidly as the demand of addresses exponentially increased with Internet.
Taking pre-cognizance of the situation that might arise, IETF, in 1994, initiated the
development of an addressing protocol to replace IPv4. The progress of IPv6 can
be tracked by means of the RFC published:
 1998 – RFC 2460 – Basic Protocol
 2003 – RFC 2553 – Basic Socket API
 2003 – RFC 3315 – DHCPv6
 2004 – RFC 3775 – Mobile IPv6
 2004 – RFC 3697 – Flow Label Specification
 2006 – RFC 4291 – Address architecture (revision)
 2006 – RFC 4294 – Node requirement
On June 06, 2012, some of the Internet giants chose to put their Servers on IPv6.
Presently they are using Dual Stack mechanism to implement IPv6 parallel in with
IPv4.

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