Configure IP Addresses and Unique Subnets for

New Users
Contents
Introduction
Prerequisites
Requirements
Components Used
Additional Information
Understand IP Addresses
Network Masks
Understand Subnetting
Examples
Sample Exercise 1
Sample Exercise 2
VLSM
VLSM Example
CIDR
Special Subnets
31-bit Subnets
32-bit Subnets
Appendix
Sample Configuration
Router A
Router B
Host/Subnet Quantities Table
Related Information

Introduction
This document describes basic information needed to configure your router, such as how addresses are
broken down and how subnetting works.

Prerequisites
Requirements

Cisco recommends that you have a basic understanding of binary and decimal numbers.

Components Used

This document is not restricted to specific software and hardware versions.

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the
devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, ensure
that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Additional Information
If definitions are helpful to you, use these vocabulary terms to get you started:

Address - The unique number ID assigned to one host or interface in a network.

Subnet - A portion of a network that shares a particular subnet address.

Subnet mask - A 32-bit combination used to describe which portion of an address refers to the subnet and
which part refers to the host.

Interface - A network connection.

If you have already received your legitimate address(es) from the Internet Network Information Center
(InterNIC), you are ready to begin. If you do not plan to connect to the Internet, Cisco strongly suggests that
you use reserved addresses from RFC 1918 .

Learn how to assign each interface on the router an IP address with a unique subnet. There are examples
included to help tie everything together.

Understand IP Addresses
An IP address is an address used in order to uniquely identify a device on an IP network. The address is
made up of 32 binary bits, which can be divisible into a network portion and host portion with the help of a
subnet mask. The 32 binary bits are broken into four octets (1 octet = 8 bits). Each octet is converted to
decimal and separated by a period (dot). For this reason, an IP address is said to be expressed in dotted
decimal format (for example, 172.16.81.100). The value in each octet ranges from 0 to 255 decimal, or
00000000 - 11111111 binary.

Here is how binary octets convert to decimal: The right most bit, or least significant bit, of an octet holds a
value of 20. The bit just to the left of that holds a value of 21. This continues until the left-most bit, or most
significant bit, which holds a value of 27. So if all binary bits are a one, the decimal equivalent would be 255
as shown here:

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 (128+64+32+16+8+4+2+1=255)

Here is a sample octet conversion when not all of the bits are set to 1.

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 64 0 0 0 0 0 1 (0+64+0+0+0+0+0+1=65)

And this sample shows an IP address represented in both binary and decimal.

10. 1. 23. 19 (decimal)

00001010.00000001.00010111.00010011 (binary)

These octets are broken down to provide an addressing scheme that can accommodate large and small
networks. There are five different classes of networks, A to E. This document focuses on classes A to C,
since classes D and E are reserved, and discussion of them is beyond the scope of this document.

Note: Also note that the terms Class A, Class B and so on are used in this document in order to help
facilitate the understanding of IP addressing and subnetting. These terms are rarely used in the
industry anymore because of the introduction of classless interdomain routing (CIDR).

Given an IP address, its class can be determined from the three high-order bits (the three left-most bits in the
first octet). Figure 1 shows the significance in the three high order bits and the range of addresses that fall
into each class. For informational purposes, Class D and Class E addresses are also shown.

Figure 1

In a Class A address, the first octet is the network portion, so the Class A example in Figure 1 has a major
network address of 1.0.0.x - 127.255.255.x (where x can go from 0 to 255). Octets 2, 3, and 4 (the next 24
bits) are for the network manager to divide into subnets and hosts as he/she sees fit. Class A addresses are
used for networks that have more than 65,536 hosts (actually, up to 16777214 hosts!).

In a Class B address, the first two octets are the network portion, so the Class B example in Figure 1 has a
major network address of 128.0.0.x - 191.255.255.x. Octets 3 and 4 (16 bits) are for local subnets and hosts.
Class B addresses are used for networks that have between 256 and 65534 hosts.

In a Class C address, the first three octets are the network portion. The Class C example in Figure 1 has a
major network address of 192.0.0.x - 223.255.255.x. Octet 4 (8 bits) is for local subnets and hosts - perfect
for networks with less than 254 hosts.
Network Masks
A network mask helps you know which portion of the address identifies the network and which portion of
the address identifies the node. Class A, B, and C networks have default masks, also known as natural
masks, as shown here:

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

An IP address on a Class A network that has not been subnetted would have an address/mask pair similar to:
10.20.15.1 255.0.0.0. In order to see how the mask helps you identify the network and node parts of the
address, convert the address and mask to binary numbers.

10.20.15.1 = 00001010.00010100.00001111.00000001
255.0.0.0 = 11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000

Once you have the address and the mask represented in binary, then identification of the network and host
ID is easier. Any address bits which have corresponding mask bits set to 1 represent the network ID. Any
address bits that have corresponding mask bits set to 0 represent the node ID.

10.20.15.1 = 00001010.00010100.00001111.00000001
255.0.0.0 = 11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000
-----------------------------------
net id | host id

netid = 00001010 = 10
hostid = 00010100.00001111.00000001 = 20.15.1

Understand Subnetting
Subnetting allows you to create multiple logical networks that exist within a single Class A, B, or C
network. If you do not subnet, you are only able to use one network from your Class A, B, or C network,
which is unrealistic.

Each data link on a network must have a unique network ID, and every node on that link is a member of the
same network. If you break a major network (Class A, B, or C) into smaller subnetworks, it allows you to
create a network of interconnecting subnetworks. Each data link on this network would then have a unique
network/subnetwork ID. Any device, or gateway, that connects n networks/subnetworks has n distinct IP
addresses, one for each network / subnetwork that it interconnects.

In order to subnet a network, extend the natural mask with some of the bits from the host ID portion of the
address in order to create a subnetwork ID. For example, given a Class C network of 192.168.5.0 which has
a natural mask of 255.255.255.0, you can create subnets in this manner:
192.168.5.0 - 11000000.10101000.00000101.00000000
255.255.255.224 - 11111111.11111111.11111111.11100000
--------------------------|sub|----

By extending the mask to be 255.255.255.224, you have taken three bits (indicated by sub) from the original
host portion of the address and used them to make subnets. With these three bits, it is possible to create eight
subnets. With the other five host ID bits, each subnet can have up to 32 host addresses, 30 of which can
actually be assigned to a device since host ids of all zeros or all ones are not allowed (it is very important to
remember this). So, with this in mind, these subnets have been created.

192.168.5.0 255.255.255.224 host address range 1 to 30

192.168.5.32 255.255.255.224 host address range 33 to 62
192.168.5.64 255.255.255.224 host address range 65 to 94
192.168.5.96 255.255.255.224 host address range 97 to 126
192.168.5.128 255.255.255.224 host address range 129 to 158
192.168.5.160 255.255.255.224 host address range 161 to 190
192.168.5.192 255.255.255.224 host address range 193 to 222
192.168.5.224 255.255.255.224 host address range 225 to 254

Note: There are two ways to denote these masks. First, since you use three bits more than the natural
Class C mask, you can denote these addresses as a 3-bit subnet mask. Or, secondly, the mask of
255.255.255.224 can also be denoted as /27 as there are 27 bits that are set in the mask. This second
method is used with CIDR. With this method, one of these networks can be described with the
notation prefix/length. For example, 192.168.5.32/27 denotes the network 192.168.5.32
255.255.255.224. When appropriate, the prefix/length notation is used to denote the mask throughout
the rest of this document.

The network subnetting scheme in this section allows for eight subnets, and the network can appear as:

Figure 2

Notice that each of the routers in Figure 2 is attached to four subnetworks, one subnetwork is common to
both routers. Also, each router has an IP address for each subnetwork to which it is attached. Each
subnetwork could potentially support up to 30 host addresses.

This brings up an interesting point. The more host bits you use for a subnet mask, the more subnets you have
available. However, the more subnets available, the less host addresses available per subnet. For example, a
Class C network of 192.168.5.0 and a mask of 255.255.255.224 (/27) allows you to have eight subnets, each
with 32 host addresses (30 of which could be assigned to devices). If you use a mask of 255.255.255.240
(/28), the breakdown is:

192.168.5.0 - 11000000.10101000.00000101.00000000
255.255.255.240 - 11111111.11111111.11111111.11110000
--------------------------|sub |---

Since you now have four bits to make subnets with, you only have four bits left for host addresses. So in this
case you can have up to 16 subnets, each of which can have up to 16 host addresses (14 of which can be
assigned to devices).

Look at how a Class B network can be subnetted. If you have network 172.16.0.0, then you know that its
natural mask is 255.255.0.0 or 172.16.0.0/16. Extending the mask to anything beyond 255.255.0.0 means
you are subnetting. You can quickly see that you have the ability to create a lot more subnets than with the
Class C network. If you use a mask of 255.255.248.0 (/21), how many subnets and hosts per subnet does this
allow for?

172.16.0.0 - 10101100.00010000.00000000.00000000
255.255.248.0 - 11111111.11111111.11111000.00000000
-----------------| sub |-----------

You use five bits from the original host bits for subnets. This allows you to have 32 subnets (25). When the
five bits for subnetting are used, you are left with 11 bits for host addresses. This allows each subnet so have
2048 host addresses (211), 2046 of which could be assigned to devices.

Note: In the past, there were limitations to the use of a subnet 0 (all subnet bits are set to zero) and all
ones subnet (all subnet bits set to one). Some devices would not allow the use of these subnets. Cisco
Systems devices allow the use of these subnets when the ip subnet-zero command is configured.

Examples
Sample Exercise 1

Now that you understand subnetting, put this knowledge to use. In this example, you are given two address /
mask combinations, written with the prefix/length notation, which have been assigned to two devices. Your
task is to determine if these devices are on the same subnet or different subnets. You can use the address and
mask of each device in order to determine to which subnet each address belongs.

DeviceA: 172.16.17.30/20
DeviceB: 172.16.28.15/20

Determine the Subnet for DeviceA:

172.16.17.30 - 10101100.00010000.00010001.00011110
255.255.240.0 - 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
-----------------| sub|------------
subnet = 10101100.00010000.00010000.00000000 = 172.16.16.0

Look at the address bits that have a corresponding mask bit set to one, and set all the other address bits to
zero (this is equivalent to when you perform a logical AND between the mask and address). It shows you to
which subnet this address belongs. In this case, Device A belongs to subnet 172.16.16.0.

Determine the Subnet for DeviceB:

172.16.28.15 - 10101100.00010000.00011100.00001111
255.255.240.0 - 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
-----------------| sub|------------
subnet = 10101100.00010000.00010000.00000000 = 172.16.16.0

From these determinations, Device A and Device B have addresses that are part of the same subnet.

Sample Exercise 2

Given the Class C network of 192.168.5.0/24, subnet the network to create the network in Figure 3 with the
host requirements shown.

Figure 3

As you look at the network shown in Figure 3, you can see that you are required to create five subnets. The
largest subnet must support 28 host addresses. Is this possible with a Class C network? And if so, then how?

In order to start, look at the subnet requirement. In order to create the five needed subnets, you would need
to use three bits from the Class C host bits. Two bits would only allow you four subnets (22).

Since you need three subnet bits, that leaves you with five bits for the host portion of the address. How
many hosts does this support? 25 = 32 (30 usable). This meets the requirement.

Therefore, you have determined that it is possible to create this network with a Class C network. An
example of how you can assign the subnetworks is:

netA: 192.168.5.0/27 host address range 1 to 30

netB: 192.168.5.32/27 host address range 33 to 62
netC: 192.168.5.64/27 host address range 65 to 94
netD: 192.168.5.96/27 host address range 97 to 126
netE: 192.168.5.128/27 host address range 129 to 158

VLSM
In all of the previous examples of subnetting, notice that the same subnet mask was applied for all the
subnets. This means that each subnet has the same number of available host addresses. You need this in
some cases, but, in most cases when there is the same subnet mask for all subnets, it wastes address space.
For example, in the Sample Exercise 2 section, a class C network was split into eight equal-size subnets;
however, each subnet did not utilize all available host addresses, which resulted in wasted address space.
Figure 4 illustrates this wasted address space.

Figure 4

Figure 4 illustrates which of the subnets used. NetA, NetC, and NetD have a lot of unused host address
space. It is possible that this was a deliberate design accounting for future growth, but in many cases, this is
just wasted address space due to the fact that the same subnet mask is used for all the subnets.

Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM) allow you to use different masks for each subnet, thereby they use
address space efficiently.

VLSM Example

Given the same network and requirements as in Sample Exercise 2 develop a subnetting scheme with the use
of VLSM, given:
netA: must support 14 hosts
netB: must support 28 hosts
netC: must support 2 hosts
netD: must support 7 hosts
netE: must support 28 host

Determine what mask allows the required number of hosts.

netA: requires a /28 (255.255.255.240) mask to support 14 hosts

netB: requires a /27 (255.255.255.224) mask to support 28 hosts
netC: requires a /30 (255.255.255.252) mask to support 2 hosts
netD*: requires a /28 (255.255.255.240) mask to support 7 hosts
netE: requires a /27 (255.255.255.224) mask to support 28 hosts

* a /29 (255.255.255.248) would only allow 6 usable host addresses

therefore netD requires a /28 mask.

The easiest way to assign the subnets is to assign the largest first. For example, you can assign in this
manner:

netB: 192.168.5.0/27 host address range 1 to 30

netE: 192.168.5.32/27 host address range 33 to 62
netA: 192.168.5.64/28 host address range 65 to 78
netD: 192.168.5.80/28 host address range 81 to 94
netC: 192.168.5.96/30 host address range 97 to 98

This can be graphically represented as shown in Figure 5:

Figure 5
Figure 5 illustrates how VLSM helped save more than half of the address space.

CIDR
Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR) was introduced in order to improve both address space utilization
and routing scalability in the Internet. It was needed because of the rapid growth of the Internet and growth
of the IP routing tables held in the Internet routers.

CIDR moves away from the traditional IP classes (Class A, Class B, Class C, and so on). In CIDR , an IP
network is represented by a prefix, which is an IP address and some indication of the length of the mask.
Length means the number of left-most contiguous mask bits that are set to one. So, network 172.16.0.0
255.255.0.0 can be represented as 172.16.0.0/16. CIDR also depicts a more hierarchical Internet
architecture, where each domain takes its IP addresses from a higher level. This allows for the
summarization of the domains to be done at the higher level. For example, if an ISP owns network
172.16.0.0/16, then the ISP can offer 172.16.1.0/24, 172.16.2.0/24, and so on to customers. Yet, when
advertising to other providers, the ISP only needs to advertise 172.16.0.0/16.

For more information on CIDR, see RFC 1518 and RFC 1519 .

Special Subnets
31-bit Subnets

A 30-bit subnet mask allows for four IPv4 addresses: two host addresses, one all-zeros network, and one all-
ones broadcast address. A point-to-point link can only have two host addresses. There is no real need to
have the broadcast and all-zeros addresses with point-to-point links. A 31-bit subnet mask allows for exactly
two host addresses, and eliminates the broadcast and all-zeros addresses, thus it conserves the use of IP
addresses to the minimum for point-to-point links.
Refer to RFC 3021 - Using 31-Bit Prefixes on IPv4 Point-to-Point Links.

The mask is 255.255.255.254 or /31.

The /31 subnet can be used on true point-to-point links, such as serial or POS interfaces. However, they can
also be used on broadcast interface types like ethernet interfaces. If that is the case, make sure there are only
two IPv4 addresses needed on that ethernet segment.

Example

192.168.1.0 and 192.168.1.1 are on the subnet 192.168.1.0/31.

R1(config)#interface gigabitEthernet 0/1

R1(config-if)#ip address 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.254
% Warning: use /31 mask on non point-to-point interface cautiously

The warning is printed because gigabitEthernet is a broadcast segment.

32-bit Subnets

A subnet mask of 255.255.255.255 (a /32 subnet) describes a subnet with only one IPv4 host address. These
subnets cannot be used to assign address to network links because they always need more than one address
per link. The use of /32 is strictly reserved for use on links that can have only one address. The example for
Cisco routers is the loopback interface. These interfaces are internal interfaces and do not connect to other
devices. As such, they can have a /32 subnet.

Example

interface Loopback0
ip address 192.168.2.1 255.255.255.255

Appendix
Sample Configuration

Routers A and B are connected via serial interface.

Router A

hostname routera
!
ip routing
!
int e 0
ip address 172.16.50.1 255.255.255.0
!(subnet 50)
int e 1 ip address 172.16.55.1 255.255.255.0
 !(subnet 55)
int s 0 ip address 172.16.60.1 255.255.255.0
!(subnet 60) int s 0
ip address 172.16.65.1 255.255.255.0 (subnet 65)
!S 0 connects to router B
router rip
network 172.16.0.0

Router B

hostname routerb
!
ip routing
!
int e 0
ip address 192.168.10.200 255.255.255.240
!(subnet 192)
int e 1
ip address 192.168.10.66 255.255.255.240
!(subnet 64)
int s 0
ip address 172.16.65.2 (same subnet as router A's s 0)
!Int s 0 connects to router A
router rip
network 192.168.10.0
network 172.16.0.0

Host/Subnet Quantities Table

Class B Effective Effective

# bits Mask Subnets Hosts
------- --------------- --------- ---------
1 255.255.128.0 2 32766
2 255.255.192.0 4 16382
3 255.255.224.0 8 8190
4 255.255.240.0 16 4094
5 255.255.248.0 32 2046
6 255.255.252.0 64 1022
7 255.255.254.0 128 510
8 255.255.255.0 256 254
9 255.255.255.128 512 126
10 255.255.255.192 1024 62
11 255.255.255.224 2048 30
12 255.255.255.240 4096 14
13 255.255.255.248 8192 6
14 255.255.255.252 16384 2

Class C Effective Effective

# bits Mask Subnets Hosts
------- --------------- --------- ---------
1 255.255.255.128 2 126
2 255.255.255.192 4 62
3 255.255.255.224 8 30
 4 255.255.255.240 16 14
5 255.255.255.248 32 6
6 255.255.255.252 64 2

*Subnet all zeroes and all ones included. These

may not be supported on some legacy systems.
*Host all zeroes and all ones excluded.

Related Information
• IP Routing Protocols Technology Support
• Subnet Zero and the All-Ones Subnet
• Host and Subnet Quantities
• Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems