Name : Sewbesew Yimer

Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

Topology

Objectives
Part 1: Examine Network Requirements
Part 2: Design the VLSM Address Scheme
Part 3: Cable and Configure the IPv4 Network

Background / Scenario
Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) was designed to avoid wasting IP addresses. With VLSM, a network is
subnetted and then re-subnetted. This process can be repeated multiple times to create subnets of various
sizes based on the number of hosts required in each subnet. Effective use of VLSM requires address
planning.
In this lab, use the 172.16.128.0/17 network address to develop an address scheme for the network displayed
in the topology diagram. VLSM is used to meet the IPv4 addressing requirements. After you have designed
the VLSM address scheme, you will configure the interfaces on the routers with the appropriate IP address
information.
Note: The routers used with CCNA hands-on labs are Cisco 1941 Integrated Services Routers (ISRs) with
Cisco IOS Release 15.2(4)M3 (universalk9 image). Other routers and Cisco IOS versions can be used.
Depending on the model and Cisco IOS version, the commands available and output produced might vary
from what is shown in the labs. Refer to the Router Interface Summary Table at the end of this lab for the
correct interface identifiers.
Note: Make sure that the routers have been erased and have no startup configurations. If you are unsure,
contact your instructor.

Required Resources
 3 routers (Cisco 1941 with Cisco IOS software, Release 15.2(4)M3 universal image or comparable)
 1 PC (with terminal emulation program, such as Tera Term, to configure routers)

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Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

 Console cable to configure the Cisco IOS devices via the console ports
 Ethernet (optional) and serial cables, as shown in the topology
 Windows Calculator (optional)

Part 1: Examine Network Requirements

In Part 1, you will examine the network requirements to develop a VLSM address scheme for the network
displayed in the topology diagram using the 172.16.128.0/17 network address.

Step 1: Determine how many host addresses and subnets are available.
How many host addresses are available in a /17 network? 32,766
What is the total number of host addresses needed in the topology diagram? 31506
How many subnets are needed in the network topology? 9

Step 2: Determine the largest subnet.

What is the subnet description (e.g. BR1 G0/1 LAN or BR1-HQ WAN link)? HQ G0/0 LAN
How many IP addresses are required in the largest subnet? 16,000
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /18 0r 255.255.255.192.0
How many total host addresses can that subnet mask support? 16,382
Can you subnet the 172.16.128.0/17 network address to support this subnet? YES
What are the two network addresses that would result from this subnetting?
172.16.128.0/18
172.16.192.0/18
Use the first network address for this subnet.

Step 3: Determine the second largest subnet.

What is the subnet description? HQ G0/1 LAN
How many IP addresses are required for the second largest subnet? 8,000
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /19 OR 255.255.224.0
How many total host addresses can that subnet mask support? 8190
Can you subnet the remaining subnet again and still support this subnet? YES
What are the two network addresses that would result from this subnetting?
172.16.192.0/19
172.16.224.0/19
Use the first network address for this subnet.

Step 4: Determine the next largest subnet.

What is the subnet description? BR1 G0/1 LAN

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Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

How many IP addresses are required for the next largest subnet? 4000
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /20 or 255.255.240.0
How many total host addresses can that subnet mask support? 4094
Can you subnet the remaining subnet again and still support this subnet? YES
What are the two network addresses that would result from this subnetting?
172.16.224.0/20
172.16.240.0/20
Use the first network address for this subnet.

Step 5: Determine the next largest subnet.

What is the subnet description? BR1 G0/0 LAN
How many IP addresses are required for the next largest subnet? 2000
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /21 OR 255.255.248.0
How many total host addresses can that subnet mask support? 2046
Can you subnet the remaining subnet again and still support this subnet? YES
What are the two network addresses that would result from this subnetting?
172.16.240.0/21
172.16.248.0/21
Use the first network address for this subnet.

Step 6: Determine the next largest subnet.

What is the subnet description? BR2 G0/1 LAN
How many IP addresses are required for the next largest subnet? 1000
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /22 OR 255.255.255.0
How many total host addresses can that subnet mask support? 1022
Can you subnet the remaining subnet again and still support this subnet? YES
What are the two network addresses that would result from this subnetting?
172.16.248.0/22
172.16.252.0/22
Use the first network address for this subnet.

Step 7: Determine the next largest subnet.

What is the subnet description? BR2 G0/0 LAN
How many IP addresses are required for the next largest subnet? 500
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /23 OR 255.255.254.0
How many total host addresses can that subnet mask support? 510
Can you subnet the remaining subnet again and still support this subnet? YES
What are the two network addresses that would result from this subnetting?

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Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

172.16.252.0/23
172.16.254.0/23
Use the first network address for this subnet.

Step 8: Determine the subnets needed to support the serial links.

How many host addresses are required for each serial subnet link? 2
What subnet mask can support that many host addresses? /30 or 255.255.255.252
a. Continue subnetting the first subnet of each new subnet until you have four /30 subnets. Write the first
three network addresses of these /30 subnets below.
172.16.254.0/30
172.16.254.4/30
172.16.254.8/30
b. Enter the subnet descriptions for these three subnets below.

Part 2: HQ – BR1 Serial Link

Part 3: ______________________
______ HQ – BR2 Serial Link
Part 4: ______________________
______ BR1 – BR2 Serial
Link
HQ – BR1 Serial Link
HQ – BR2 Serial Link
BR1 – BR2 Serial Link

Part 5: Design the VLSM Address Scheme

Step 1: Calculate the subnet information.
Use the information that you obtained in Part 1 to fill in the following table.

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Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

Number of Network Address First Host Broadcast

Subnet Description Hosts Needed /CIDR Address Address

HQ G0/0 16,000 172.16.128.0/18 172.16.128.1 172.16.191.255

HQ G0/1 8,000 172.16.192.0/19 172.16.192.1 172.16.223.255
BR1 G0/1 4,000 172.16.224.0/20 172.16.224.1 172.16.239.255
BR1 G0/0 2,000 172.16.240.0/21 172.16.240.1 172.16.247.255
BR2 G0/1 1,000 172.16.248.0/22 172.16.248.1 172.16.251.255
BR2 G0/0 500 1172.16.252.0/23 172.16.252.1 172.16.253.255
HQ S0/0/0 – BR1 S0/0/0 2 172.16.254.0/30 172.16.254.1 172.16.254.3
HQ S0/0/1 – BR2 S0/0/1 2 172.16.254.4/30 172.16.254.5 172.16.254.4
BR1 S0/0/1 – BR2 S0/0/0 2 172.16.254.8/30 172.16.254.9 172.168.254.11

Step 2: Complete the device interface address table.

Assign the first host address in the subnet to the Ethernet interfaces. HQ should be given the first host
address on the Serial links to BR1 and BR2. BR1 should be given the first host address for the serial link to
BR2.

Device Interface IP Address Subnet Mask Device Interface

G0/0 172.16.128.1 255.255.192.0 16,000 Host LAN

G0/1 172.16.192.1 255.255.224.0 8,000 Host LAN
HQ
S0/0/0 172.16.254.1 255.255.255.252 BR1 S0/0/0
S0/0/1 172.16.254.5 255.255.255.252 BR2 S0/0/1
G0/0 172.16.240.1 255.255.248.0 2,000 Host LAN
G0/1 172.16.224.1 255.255.240.0 4,000 Host LAN
BR1
S0/0/0 172.16.254.2 255.255.255.252 HQ S0/0/0
S0/0/1 172.16.254.9 255.255.255.252 BR2 S0/0/0
G0/0 172.16.252.1 255.255.254.0 500 Host LAN
G0/1 172.16.248.1 255.255.255.0 1,000 Host LAN
BR2
S0/0/0 172.16.254.10 255.255.255.252 BR1 S0/0/1
S0/0/1 172.16.254.6 255.255.255.252 HQ S0/0/1

Part 6: Cable and Configure the IPv4 Network

In Part 3, you will cable the network topology and configure the three routers using the VLSM address
scheme that you developed in Part 2.

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Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

Step 1: Cable the network as shown in the topology.

Step 2: Configure basic settings on each router.

a. Assign the device name to the router.
b. Disable DNS lookup to prevent the router from attempting to translate incorrectly entered commands as
though they were hostnames.
c. Assign class as the privileged EXEC encrypted password.
d. Assign cisco as the console password and enable login.
e. Assign cisco as the VTY password and enable login.
f. Encrypt the clear text passwords.
g. Create a banner that will warn anyone accessing the device that unauthorized access is prohibited.

Step 3: Configure the interfaces on each router.

a. Assign an IP address and subnet mask to each interface using the table that you completed in Part 2.
b. Configure an interface description for each interface.
c. Set the clocking rate on all DCE serial interfaces to 128000.
HQ(config-if)# clock rate 128000
d. Activate the interfaces.

Step 4: Save the configuration on all devices.

Step 5: Test Connectivity.

a. From HQ, ping BR1’s S0/0/0 interface address.
b. From HQ, ping BR2’s S0/0/1 interface address.
c. From BR1, ping BR2’s S0/0/0 interface address.
d. Troubleshoot connectivity issues if pings were not successful.
Note: Pings to the GigabitEthernet interfaces on other routers will not be successful. The LANs defined for
the GigabitEthernet interfaces are simulated. Because no devices are attached to these LANs they will be in
down/down state. A routing protocol needs to be in place for other devices to be aware of those subnets. The
GigabitEthernet interfaces also need to be in an up/up state before a routing protocol can add the subnets to
the routing table. These interfaces will remain in a down/down state until a device is connected to the other
end of the Ethernet interface cable. The focus of this lab is on VLSM and configuring the interfaces.

Reflection
Can you think of a shortcut for calculating the network addresses of consecutive /30 subnets?
The answer may vary, A/30 network has 4 address spaces: the network address, 2host addresses,
and broadcast address. Another technique for obtaining the next /30 network address would be to
take the network address of the previous /30 network and add 4 to the last octate

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Lab – Designing and Implementing a VLSM Addressing Scheme

Router Interface Summary Table

Router Interface Summary

Router Model Ethernet Interface #1 Ethernet Interface #2 Serial Interface #1 Serial Interface #2

1800 Fast Ethernet 0/0 Fast Ethernet 0/1 Serial 0/0/0 (S0/0/0) Serial 0/0/1 (S0/0/1)
(F0/0) (F0/1)
1900 Gigabit Ethernet 0/0 Gigabit Ethernet 0/1 Serial 0/0/0 (S0/0/0) Serial 0/0/1 (S0/0/1)
(G0/0) (G0/1)
2801 Fast Ethernet 0/0 Fast Ethernet 0/1 Serial 0/1/0 (S0/1/0) Serial 0/1/1 (S0/1/1)
(F0/0) (F0/1)
2811 Fast Ethernet 0/0 Fast Ethernet 0/1 Serial 0/0/0 (S0/0/0) Serial 0/0/1 (S0/0/1)
(F0/0) (F0/1)
2900 Gigabit Ethernet 0/0 Gigabit Ethernet 0/1 Serial 0/0/0 (S0/0/0) Serial 0/0/1 (S0/0/1)
(G0/0) (G0/1)
Note: To find out how the router is configured, look at the interfaces to identify the type of router and how many
interfaces the router has. There is no way to effectively list all the combinations of configurations for each router
class. This table includes identifiers for the possible combinations of Ethernet and Serial interfaces in the device.
The table does not include any other type of interface, even though a specific router may contain one. An
example of this might be an ISDN BRI interface. The string in parenthesis is the legal abbreviation that can be
used in Cisco IOS commands to represent the interface.

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