LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING 11

Third Quarter, Week 6
Name of Learner: _____________________________ Grade Level: _________________________
Section: _____________________________________ Date: _________________________

IP SUBNETTING
Part 2

BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR LEARNERS

Each IP address belongs to a predefined IP class. There are five predefined IP classes; A, B, C, D and E.
From these classes, class D and E are reserved and cannot be used in Subnetting.
In class A, B and C: -
• First 8, 16 and 24 bits are reserved for network portion respectively.
• Last 2 bits (31 & 32) are reserved for host portion.

Reserved network bits and host bits cannot be used in Subnetting.

IP First IP Address of Last IP Address of Default Subnet Default Network Host Reserved host
Class class class Mask bits bits bits
A 0.0.0.0 127.255.255.255 255.0.0.0 First 8 bits 9 to 30 31, 32
B 128.0.0.0 191.255.255.255 255.255.0.0 First 16 bits 17 to 31, 32
30
C 192.0.0.0 223.255.255.255 255.255.255.0 First 24 bits 25 to 31, 32
30

Subnetting eligible host bits

After excluding reserved network bits and host bits, remaining bits are considered as Subnetting eligible
host bits. Subnetting can be done only in Subnetting eligible bits.
Subnet
A subnet is a single small network created from a large network. In Subnetting we break a single large
network in multiple small networks. These networks are known as subnets.
Network address and Broadcast address
In each network there are two special addresses; network address and broadcast address. Network address
represents the network itself while broadcast address represents all the hosts which belong to it. These two
addresses can’t be assigned to any individual host in network. Since each subnet represents an individual network,
it also uses these two addresses.
In simple language, in a single network only two IP addresses will be used for these addresses. But if we
breaks this network in two small networks then four IP addressed will be used for these addresses.

Network address and broadcast address are also known as Network ID and broadcast ID respectively.
Valid host addresses
All addresses between Network address and Broadcast address are known as valid host addresses. Only
valid host addresses can be assigned to the devices in a network. These devices include end user devices such as
computes, laptops, tablets, smartphones, IP phones, servers, printers, terminals, IP camera and networking devices
such switches, routers, firewalls and proxy servers. In short, any device that uses IP protocol for data transferring
needs a valid host address.
Block Size
Block size is the sum of network address, valid host addresses and broadcast address. For example, if in a
network there are 6 valid hosts than block size of that network is 8 (1 network address + 6 valid hosts + 1 broadcast
address).
Power of 2
An IP address is built from the various combinations of IP bits. Understanding how many combinations the
number of bits provides or to get the number of combinations how many bits we need is the second essential step
of Subnetting.
• A combination of all 32 represents a unique IP address.
• A combination of network bits in IP address represents the number of networks or subnets.
• A combination of host bits in IP address represents the number of total hosts.
To know how many combinations the number of bits provides or to get the number of combinations how
many bits are required, we use the power of 2.
For example, to break a single large network in 4 subnets, we need 2 (22 = 4) Subnetting bits. This way if we
have 3 Subnetting bits, we can make 8 (23 = 8) additional networks.
Following table lists the power of 2 till 32.
2X Value 2X Value 2X Value 2X Value
1 2 9 512 17 131072 25 33554432
2 4 10 1024 18 262144 26 67108864
3 8 11 2048 19 524288 27 134217728
4 16 12 4096 20 1048576 28 268435456
5 32 13 8192 21 2097152 29 536870912
6 64 14 16384 22 4194304 30 1073741824
7 128 15 32768 23 8388608 31 2147483648
8 256 16 65536 24 16777216 32 4294967296
X
In 2 the X is the number of bits.
Subnetting Direction
Subnetting always flows in single direction (left to right) without skipping any bit. This simple rule gives
us the exact location of Subnetting bits in an address space. Let’s take an example.
A class C network is subnetted in 4 subnets. Find the number of host bits used in Subnetting and their location in
address space.
To create 4 subnets we need to 2 (22 = 4) Subnetting eligible host bits.
Since in class C network space Subnetting eligible bits starts from 25 and Subnetting always goes from
left to right without skipping any bit, the bits used in this network are 25 and 26.

Slash Notation
It’s a compact representation of Subnet mask. In this notation a slash (/) sign and total number of the on bits in
subnet mask are written with IP address instead of full Subnet mask.
Following table lists some examples of IP addresses with Subnet mask in all three notations.
In Slash notation In binary notation In decimal notation
10.10.10.10/8 00001010.00001010.00001010.00001010 10.10.10.10
11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000 255.0.0.0
172.168.1.1/16 10101100.10101000.00000001.00000001 172.168.1.1
11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000 255.255.0.
192.168.1.1/24 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001 192.168.1.1
11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000 255.255.255.0
192.168.1.1/28 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001 192.168.1.1
11111111.11111111.11111111.11110000 255.255.255.240
Type of Subnetting
There are two types of Subnetting Fixed Length Subnet Mask (FLSM) and Variable Length Subnet Mask
(VLSM). In FLSM, all subnets have equal number of host addresses and use same Subnet mask. In VLSM,
subnets have flexible number of host addresses and use different subnet mask.

Following figure shows an example of FLSM and VLSM.

FLSM is easy in implementation and simple in operation but wastes a lot of IP addresses. VLSM is hard
in implementation and complex in operation but utilizes maximum IP addresses.
Several steps involve in both types of Subnetting. Due to length of this tutorial, I will explain both types
of Subnetting individually in next parts of this article.
That’s all for this part. In next part, we will learn how to perform a FLSM Subnetting step by step in detail
with practical examples. If you have any suggestion or feedback regarding this tutorial, please let me know. If
you like this tutorial, please share it with friends.
LEARNING COMPETENCY
1. Set network configuration

ACTIVITIES
Activity 1
Direction: Write “A” if the statement is Advantage and “D” if it is Disadvantage. Write your answers on the
space provided.
1. The last 2 bits reserved for host portion. = ______
2. Subnetting ads complexity in network. An experienced network administrator is required to manage the
subnetted network. = ______
3. Subnetting allows us to break a single large network in smaller networks. Small networks are easy to
manage. = ______
4. Subnetting reduces network traffic by allowing only the broadcast traffic which is relevant to the subnet.
= ______
5. By reducing unnecessary traffic, Subnetting improves overall performance of the network. = ______
6. By blocking a subnet’ traffic in subnet, Subnetting increases security of the network. = ______
7. Since each subnet uses its own network address and broadcast address, more subnets mean more wastage
of IP addresses. = ______
8. Different subnets need an intermediate device known as router to communicate with each other. = ______
9. Subnetting decreases the total number of IP addresses in the network but may need buying additional
hardware such as a router. So, it may cost lots of money. = ______
10. It cannot correct the lack of efficiency because companies still assign address block regarding to classes.
= ______

REFLECTION
1. Why do we need to use IP Address on networks?
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REFERENCES
Electronic Resources:

https://www.computernetworkingnotes.com/ccna-study-guide/network-address-basic-concepts-explained-with-
examples.html - Computer Networking Notes

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ip/routing-information-protocol-rip/13788-3.html
IP Addressing and Subnetting for New Users

Prepared by: GENESIS P EUGENIO

Name of Writer/s

Noted by: LABERNE A. LADIGNON, JR.

Division ICT Coordinator / OIC EPS