SUBNETTING

Subnetting is a process of dividing large network into the smaller networks based on layer 3 IP address. Every computer on network has an IP address that represents its location on network. Two version of IP addresses are available IPv4 and IPv6. In this article we will perform Subnetting on IPv4.

IPv4

IP addresses are displayed in dotted decimal notation, and appear as four numbers separated by dots. Each number of an IP address is made from eight individual bits known as octet. Each octet can create number value from 0 to 255. An IP address would be 32 bits long in binary divided into the two components, network component and host component. Network component is used to identify the network that the packet is intend for, and host component is used to identify the individual host on network.

IP addresses are broken into the two components:

Network component :- Defines network segment of device.

Host component :- Defines the specific device on a particular network segment

IP Classes in decimal notation

  Class A addresses range from 1-126

  Class B addresses range from 128-191

  Class C addresses range from 192-223

  Class D addresses range from 224-239

  Class E addresses range from 240-254

   

·      0 [Zero] is reserved and represents all IP addresses.

·      127 is a reserved address and is used for testing, like a loop back on an interface.

·      255 is a reserved address and is used for broadcasting purposes.