SUBNETTING

• Class A networks
– First octet values range from 1 through 126.
– First octet starts with bit 0.
– Network mask is 8 bits, written /8 or 255.0.0.0.
1.0.0.0 through 126.0.0.0 are class A networks with 16777214 hosts each.

• Class B networks
– First octet values range from 128 through 191.
– First octet starts with binary pattern 10.
– Network mask is 16 bits, written /16 or 255.255.0.0.
128.0.0.0 through 191.255.0.0 are class B networks, with 65534 hosts each.

• Class C networks
– First octet values range from 192 through 223.
– First octet starts with binary pattern 110.
– Network mask is 24 bits, written /24 or 255.255.255.0.
192.0.0.0 through 223.255.255.0 are class C networks, with 254 hosts each.

Two additional classes, and reserved

addresses
• Class D addresses
– First octet values range from 224 through 239.
– First octet starts with binary pattern 1110.
– Class D addresses are multicast addresses, which will not be discussed in
this tutorial.
• Class E addresses
– Essentially everything that’s left.
– Experimental class, which will not be discussed in this tutorial.
• Reserved addresses
– 0.0.0.0 is the default IP address, and it is used to specify a default route.
The
default route will be discussed later.
– Addresses beginning with 127 are reserved for internal loopback
addresses.
It is common to see 127.0.0.1 used as the internal loopback address on many
devices. Try pinging this address on a PC or Unix station

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The need to improve IP addressing efficiency
• As IP networking and internetworking progressed, it became very apparent
that class A and B networks were simply too large.
• 254 hosts on one network segment is manageable, but 65534 hosts or more
on a single network segment is difficult to manage.
– This would result in class A and B networks not being fully utilized,
meaning that not all the host addresses would get used.
– Or it would result in more hosts being put onto a single network segment
than could reasonably be managed.
• For these and other reasons, there was a need to improve the efficiency of
IP addressing. That is, to provide a way to limit the number of host
addresses per network segment to what is actually needed, regardless of the
network class.
• This need was met progressively through the conceptions of subnet masks,
variable-length subnet masks, and classless inter-domain routing.

Subnet capacity – number of subnets a network can support

Host capacity – number of hosts on each subnet

Example 1

Let us say that you have a Class C network with the IP address 195.201.10.5. You have
created 2 subnets on this network. What is the host capacity of each subnet?

In order to calculate the host capacity you must first find out the subnet identifier.
(no of bits borrowed from the host)
Step 1: Find out the binary value of decimal 2 (given number of subnets)
2/2 = 1 0
Step 2: Count the number of bits in the result = 2 (your subnet identifer is 2 bits)
This means you need to borrow 2 bits from the host. For a class C network the
host carries 8 bits.

195.201.10. 5
Network Host

255.255.255.0

Step 3: 8 host bits minus 2 bits = 6 (you now have 6 host bits left.)
Step 4: 26-2 (64-2)
Answer is 62

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Subnet mask would now change to

255 255 255 192

11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000

To calculate the no of subnets you would take the subnet identifier (which is 2 bits)
22-2 =2 (4-2)

Given a class A network of 10.0.0.0/19

Calculate the number of subnets, the host capacity of each subnet and the subnet mask
11111111 00000000 00000000 00000000

10 0 0 0/19
11111111 11111111 111000000 00000000

Number of Subnets

Step:1 In order to increase the network bits from 8 to 19 we need to borrow 11 bits from
the the host.
The bits that are borrowed are referred to at the subnet identifier
Step: 2 211-2 = (2048-2) = 2048

Number of hosts or IP addresses in each subnet

Step 1: The number of host remaining after you borrowed 11 would be 13

Step 2: 213-2 =8190

Subnet Mask

10 00000000 000000000 00000000/19

11111111 11111111 111000000 00000000
255 255 224 0

From a Class A network determine the number of subnets you would need to support 900
hosts per subnet

1. 900 hosts (binary value of decimal 900 = 1110000100 so we know we have 10

bits for the host part of the address.
2. We are then left with 22 bits for the rest of the network

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 3. A Class A address would normally have 8 bits for the network section so the
borrowed bits 22-8 =14
4. 214-2 = 16382
5. The host capacity would be 210=2 =1,022

From a Class B network of 190.201.0.0. how many subnets can you have if you have at
least 4000 host.

1. 4000 host = 111110100000 = 12 host bit

2. We are left with 20 bits for the network (32-12)
3. A class B has 16 bits for the network so to get 20 we need to borrow 4
4. 4 would be the subnet identifier
5. 24-2 = 14 subnets

_________________________________________________________

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Memorize this table of high-bit sums:

1-bit sum 128 (128 alone)

2-bit sum 192 (128+64)

3-bit sum 224 (128+64+32)

4-bit sum 240 (128+64+32+16)

5-bit sum 248 (128+64+32+16+8)

6-bit sum 252 (128+64+32+16+8+4)

7-bit sum 254 (128+64+32+16+8+4+2)

8-bit sum 255 (128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1)

Suppose a company has a Class B IP address and you need to determine the number of
subnets required to support at least 2000 hosts per subnet.

1. Find out the binary equivalent of 2000

Binary equivalent of 2000 =11111010000
= 11 bits so you reserve 11 host bits
2. Subtract 11 from 32 to find out the network bits =21
3. The default subnet mask for class B network is 16.
Subtract 16 from 21 to find out how many bits extend the network
=5
4.
So the subnet capacity is 25 -2
5. SO THE SUBNET CAPACITY IS 32
6. THE HOST CAPACITY WOULD BE 211-2
2046

Class B network address 190.210.0.0

How many subnets can you have if you need at least 4000 hosts per subnet.

Binary of 4000 = 111110100000 = 12 bits

32- 12 =20
16 is the default…so 20-14 = 4
SUBNETS = 24-2
ANSWER 14 SUBNETS
HOST CAPACITY = 212-2
=4096

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 Suppose you have a network with a class C address 200.89.62.0/24 and you want to
create a minimum of 6 subnets.

Notice that you are not given the number of hosts required.

1. The first thing you need to find out is the subnet identifier ( no of bits to borrow
from the host id.
2. The decimal value of 6 is 110 = 3 bits
3. So you need to borrow 3 bits from the host id section to add to the network id
4. The network prefix is now 200.89.62.0/27 because you borrowed 3 bits from the
host id 24+3
5. the subnet mask is no longer 255.255.255.0 because you changed the network id
structure
6. the mask is now 255.255.255.244 11100000 converted to decimal is 224

ONLY 5 BITS REMAIN FOR THE HOST ADDRESS

THE NUMBER OF HOSTS AVAILABLE PER SUBNET = 25-2 = 30
If we needed to calculate the subnets we would convert the 30 into binary, count the
number of bits (5). So the Host bits are 5 that means that the network bit are 27 (32-
5). Because the network is a class C we already have 24 bits for the network so we
will have to borrow 3 bits (24+3) to make 27. The significant amount here is the 3
borrowed bits or subnet indentifier. To find out the subnets we use the formulae
23-2

= 6 subnets

SUBNETS =

30 = 11110 = 5 BITS

32-5 = 27

27-24 =3

23-2
=6 SUBNETS

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FIRST AND LAST SUBNET

To calculate the network address of the first subnet, begin by taking the decimal value of
the quad in the subnet mask that contains both subnet and host identifier bits and
subtracting it from 256. Using an example of a class C address with the subnet mask
255.255.255.224, the result of 256 minus 224 is 32. The network address of the first
subnet is therefore 192.168.42.32. To calculate the network addresses of the other
subnets, you repeatedly increment the result of your previous subtraction by itself. Fro
example, if the network address of the first subnet is 192.168.42.32, the addresses of the
remaining five subnets are as follows:

192.168.42.64
192.168.42.96
192.168.42.128
192.168.42.160
192.168.42.192
To calculate the IP address in each subnet, you repeatedly increment the host identifier by
one. The IP addresses in the first subnet are therefore 192.168.42.33 to 192.168.42.33 to
192.168.42.62. The 192.168.42.63 address is omitted because this address would have a
binary host identifier value of 11111, which is a broadcast address. The IP address
ranges for the subsequent subnets are as follows:
192.168.42.65 to 192.168.42.94
192.168.42.97 to 192.168.42.126
192.168.42.129 to 192.168.42.158
192.168.42.161 to 192.168.42.190
192.168.42.193 to 192.168.42.222

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Practice: Subnetting IP Addresses

For each of the following IP address assignments, specify the number of bits in the subnet
identifier, the number of possible IP addresses in each subnet, the mask for the IP
addresses, and the IP address ranges for the first and last subnet.

10.0.0.0/19
1. Number of bits in subnet identifier:______________________
2. Number of subnets __________________
3. Number of possible IP addresses in each subnet______________
4. Subnet mask _______________
5. First subnet_______________
6.. Last subnet ______________

192.168.214.0/29
1. Number of bits in subnet identifier:______________________
2. Number of subnets __________________
3. Number of possible IP addresses in each subnet______________
4. Subnet mask _______________
5. First subnet_______________
6.. Last subnet ______________

172.28.0.0./20
1. Number of bits in subnet identifier:______________________
2. Number of subnets __________________
3. Number of possible IP addresses in each subnet______________
4. Subnet mask _______________
5. First subnet_______________
6.. Last subnet ______________