11/12/2022

CSC4304:
Computer Network Design

Subnets

Routing within an Organization

Subnet

 Subnets are a subset of the entire

network
 Networks can be divided into subnets
 Subnets can be divided into subnets
 Each subnet is treated as a separate
network
 A subnet can be a WAN or LAN

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Subnets

Subnet 1 Subnet 2

Subnet 3 Subnet 4

Subnet Addresses
 Typical (classed) IP addresses (e.g.
137.207.32.2) have two parts:
 A network ID (e.g. 137.207.0.0)
 A host ID (e.g. 0.0.32.2)
 A subnetted network will divide the IP
address differently
 Part of the host ID will be used to specify the
subnet number
 The network ID and subnet portion of the host
ID can be considered the subnet ID

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Subnet Addresses

 For example, if we want to divide a

network into 4 subnets, we can use
the following scheme:
 4 subnets can be represented with 2
bits (22 = 4)
 For a class B address, which already
uses 16 bits for the network portion,
the address would use 18 bits for the
subnet portion

External Routing with Subnets

 Subnetting is transparent outside

an organization
 e.g. If subnetting is used in the
University, routers outside the
University will not consider subnetting
at all
 Thus, subnetting is only relevant within
an organization

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Internal Routing with Subnets

 When a packet enters a network

with subnetting, the routers will
behave differently
 A route may use the subnet ID
(network portion + subnet portion,
followed by zeroes) to determine which
route to take

What is subnetting?

Network Network Host Host

172 16 0 0

Network Network Subnet Host

 Subnetting is the process of borrowing bits from the HOST bits, in
order to divide the larger network into small subnets.
 Subnetting does NOT give you more hosts, but actually costs you
hosts.
 You lose two host IP Addresses for each subnet, and perhaps one for
the subnet IP address and one for the subnet broadcast IP address.
 You lose the last subnet and all of it’s hosts’ IP addresses as the
broadcast for that subnet is the same as the broadcast for the
network.
 In older networks, you would have lost the first subnet, as the subnet
IP address is the same as the network IP address. (This subnet can
be used in most networks.)
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Subnet Example

Network address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask

Network Network Host Host

172 16 0 0

Subnet Example
Network address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask
Network Network Host Host

172 16 0 0
Using Subnets: subnet mask 255.255.255.0 or /24
Network Network Subnet Host

Network Mask:
255.255.0.0 or /16 11111111 11111111 00000000 00000000

Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0 or /24
11111111 11111111 11111111 00000000

 Applying a mask which is larger than the default

subnet mask, will divide your network into subnets.
 Subnet mask used here 10is 255.255.255.0 or /24

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Subnet Example
Network address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask
Using Subnets: subnet mask 255.255.255.0 or /24

Network Network Subnet Host

172 16 0 Host Subnets

172 16 1 Host
172 16 2 Host
255
172 16 3 Host Subnets

172 16 Etc. Host 28 - 1

172 16 254 Host

Cannot use last
172 16 255 Host subnet as it
contains broadcast
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address

Subnet Example
Network address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask
Using Subnets: subnet mask 255.255.255.0 or /24

Network Network Subnet Host

172 16 0 0 Subnets
Addresses
172 16 1 0
172 16 2 0
255
172 16 3 0 Subnets

172 16 Etc. 0 28 - 1

172 16 254 0
Cannot use last
172 16 255 0 subnet as it
contains broadcast
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address

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Subnet Example
Class B address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask
Using Subnets: subnet mask 255.255.255.0 or /24

Network Network Subnet Hosts Hosts

Addresses
172 16 0 1 254
172 16 1 1 254
172 16 2 1 254
172 16 3 1 254
172 16 Etc. 1 254
172 16 254 1 254
Each subnet has
172 16 255 Host 254 hosts, 28 – 2
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Subnet Example
Network address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask
Using Subnets: subnet mask 255.255.255.0 or /24

Network Network Subnet Host

172 16 0 255 Broadcast

Addresses
172 16 1 255
172 16 2 255
255
172 16 3 255 Subnets

172 16 Etc. 255 28 - 1

172 16 254 255

Cannot use last
172 16 255 255 subnet as it
contains broadcast
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address

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Subnet Example
Network address 172.16.0.0 with /16 network mask
Using Subnets: subnet mask 255.255.255.0 or /24
172.16.0.0/24 172.16.10.0/24

172.16.5.0/24 172.16.25.0/24

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Important things to remember about Subnetting

 You can only subnet the host portion, you do not have
control of the network portion.
 Subnetting does not give you more hosts, it only allows
you to divide your larger network into smaller networks.
 When subnetting, you will actually lose hosts:
 For each subnet you lose the address of that subnet

 For each subnet you lose the broadcast address of

that subnet
 You “may” lose the first and last last subnets
(coming)

 Analogy: Large barrel of 100 apples.

 Why subnet?
 Divide larger network into smaller network.

 Limit layer 2 and layer 3 broadcasts to their subnet.

 Better management of16 traffic.

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Subnetting – Example #1 (on the board)

 Host IP Address: 172.16.18.33
 Network Mask: 255.255.0.0
 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Given the following Host IP Address, Network Mask and Subnet mask
find the following information:
 Major Network Information
 Major Network Address
 Major Network Broadcast Address
 Range of Hosts if not subnetted
 Subnet Information
 Subnet Address
 Range of Host Addresses (first host and last host)
 Broadcast Address
 Other Subnet Information
 Total number of subnets
 Number of hosts per subnet

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Subnetting – Example #2
 Host IP Address: 138.101.114.250
 Network Mask: 255.255.0.0
 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.192

Given the following Host IP Address, Network Mask and Subnet mask
find the following information:
 Major Network Information
 Major Network Address
 Major Network Broadcast Address
 Range of Hosts if not subnetted
 Subnet Information
 Subnet Address
 Range of Host Addresses (first host and last host)
 Broadcast Address
 Other Subnet Information
 Total number of subnets
 Number of hosts per subnet

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Major Network Information

 Host IP Address: 138.101.114.250
 Network Mask: 255.255.0.0
 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.192

 Major Network Address: 138.101.0.0

 Major Network Broadcast Address:
138.101.255.255
 Range of Hosts if not Subnetted: 138.101.0.1
to 138.101.255.254

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Step 1: Convert to Binary

128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1
138. 101. 114. 250
IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11111010
Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000
255. 255. 255. 192

Step 1:
Translate Host IP Address and Subnet Mask into binary
notation

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Step 2: Find the Subnet Address

138. 101. 114. 250
IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11111010
Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000
Network 10001010 01100101 01110010 11000000
138 101 114 192

Step 2:
Determine the Network (or Subnet) where this Host
address lives:
1. Draw a line under the mask
2. Perform a bit-wise AND operation on the IP Address and the
Subnet Mask
Note: 1 AND 1 results in a 1, 0 AND anything results in a 0
3. Express the result in Dotted Decimal Notation
4. The result is the Subnet Address of this Subnet or “Wire”
which is 138.101.114.192
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Step 2: Find the Subnet Address

138. 101. 114. 250
IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11111010
Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000
Network 10001010 01100101 01110010 11000000
138 101 114 192

Step 2:
Determine the Network (or Subnet) where this Host
address lives:
Quick method:
1. Find the last (right-most) 1 bit in the subnet mask.
2. Copy all of the bits in the IP address to the Network Address
3. Add 0’s for the rest of the bits in the Network Address

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Step 3: Subnet Range / Host

Range G.D. S.D.

IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111010

Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11 000000
Network 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 000000
 subnet   host 
counting range counting
range
Step 3:
Determine which bits in the address contain Network
(subnet) information and which contain Host
information:
 Use the Network Mask: 255.255.0.0 and divide (Great
Divide) the from the rest of the address.
 Use Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.192 and divide (Small
Divide) the subnet from the hosts between the last “1” and
the first “0” in the subnet mask.
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Step 4: First Host / Last Host

G.D. S.D.

IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111010

Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11 000000
Network 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 000000
 subnet   host 
counting range counting
range

First Host 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 000001

138 101 114 193

Last Host 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111110

138 101 114 254

Broadcast 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111111

138 101 114 255

Host Portion
 Subnet Address: all 0’s
 First Host: all 0’s and a 1
 Last Host: all 1’s and a 0
 Broadcast: all 1’s
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Step 5: Total Number

G.D. of Subnets
S.D.

IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111010

Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11 000000
Network 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 000000
 subnet   host 
counting range counting
range

 Total
First number
Host of subnets
10001010
138
01100101
101
01110010
114
11 000001
193
 Number of subnet bits 10
Last Host 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111110
 210 = 1,024 138 101 114 254

 1,024
Broadcasttotal 10001010
subnets 01100101 01110010 11 111111
138 101 114 255
 Subtract one “if” all-zeros subnet cannot be used
 Subtract one “if” all-ones subnet cannot be used

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Step 6: Total Number of Hosts per

Subnet G.D. S.D.

IP Address 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111010

Mask 11111111 11111111 11111111 11 000000
Network 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 000000
 subnet   host 
counting range counting
range

 Total
First number
Host of hosts
10001010
138 101
per subnet
01100101 01110010
114
11 000001
193
 Number of host bits 6
Last Host 10001010 01100101 01110010 11 111110
 26 = 64 138 101 114 254

 64 host per10001010
Broadcast subnets 01100101 01110010 11 111111
138 101 114 255
 Subtract one for the subnet address
 Subtract one for the broadcast address

 62 hosts per subnet

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Subnet Convention

 Consider the following Class C

example
 195.175.25.0/27
 In the above case, the first three
octets and the first three higher-
order bits of the fourth octet are
used in subnet masking
 3*8+3 = 27 bits from the beginning of
the 32 bit IP address

© N. Ganesan, All rights reserved.

Subnet Convention Illustrated

8 Bits 8 Bits 8 Bits 3 Bits

11111111 11111111 11111111 11100000

Total number of masking bits = 27

195.175.25.0/27

Network ID
© N. Ganesan, All rights reserved.

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Variable Length Subnets

135.41.0.0/16
Subnet
135.41.0.0/17 135.41.128.0.0/17
135.41.128.0./17
1 Network, 32,766 hosts Subnet
135.41.128.0/21 135.41.248.0/21
15 Networks, 2046 hosts per network

135.41.248.0/24 135.41.255.0/21
8 Networks, 254 hosts per network

Your Turn!
Problem 1
 Host IP Address: 10.10.10.193

 Network Mask: 255.255.0.0

 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Problem 2
 Host IP Address: 10.10.10.193

 Network Mask: 255.255.255.0

 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.240

Problem 3
 Host IP Address: 10.10.10.193
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 Network Mask: 255.255.255.0

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