Application

Presentation Subnetting Basics

Session
Transport
Four Subnetting Steps
Network
Data-Link & Practice Problems
Physical
By: Allan Johnson
Application
Presentation IP Addressing
Session
Transport
Subnetting a
Network
Data-Link Class A, B, and C
Physical
Logical Addressing
• At the network layer, we use logical,
hierarchical addressing.
• With Internet Protocol (IP), this address is a
32-bit addressing scheme divided into four
octets.
• Do you remember the classes 1st octet’s
value?
 Class A: 1 - 126
 Class B: 128 - 191
 Class C: 192 - 223
 Class D: 224 - 239 (multicasting)
 Class E: 240 - 255 (experimental)
Network vs. Host
Class A: 27 = 126 networks; 224 > 16 million hosts

N H H H

Class B : 214 = 16,384 networks; 216 > 65,534 hosts

N N H H

Class C : 221 > 2 million networks; 28 = 254 hosts

N N N H
Why Subnet?
• Remember: we are usually dealing with
a broadcast topology.
• Can you imagine what the network
traffic overhead would be like on a
network with 254 hosts trying to
discover each others MAC addresses?
• Subnetting allows us to segment LANs
into logical broadcast domains called
subnets, thereby improving network
performance.
Four Subnetting Steps
• To correctly subnet a given network
address into subnet addresses, ask
yourself the following questions:
1. How many bits do I need to borrow?
2. What’s the subnet mask?
3. What’s the “magic number” or multiplier?
4. What are the first three subnetwork
addresses?
• Let’s look at each of these questions in
detail
1. How many bits to borrow?
• First, you need to know how many bits
you have to work with.
• Second, you must know either how
many subnets you need or how many
hosts per subnet you need.
• Finally, you need to figure out the
number of bits to borrow.
1. How many bits to borrow?
• How many bits do I have to work with?
 Depends on the class of your network
address.
 Class C: 8 host bits
 Class B: 16 host bits
 Class A: 24 host bits
 Remember: you must borrow at least 2 bits
for subnets and leave at least 2 bits for
host addresses.
 2 bits borrowed allows 22 - 2 = 2 subnets
1. How many bits to borrow?
• How many subnets or hosts do I need?
• A simple formula:
 Host Bits = Bits Borrowed + Bits Left
 HB = BB + BL
• I need x subnets: 2 2x
BB

• I need x hosts: 2 2x

BL

• Remember: we need to subtract two to

provide for the subnetwork and
broadcast addresses.
1. How many bits to borrow?
• Class C Example: 210.93.45.0
• Design goals specify at least 5 subnets
so how many bits do we borrow?
• How many bits in the host portion do we
have to work with (HB)?
• What’s the BB in our HB = BB + BL
formula? (8 = BB + BL)
• 2 to the what power will give us at least
5 subnets?
23 - 2 = 6 subnets
1. How many bits to borrow?
• How many bits are left for hosts?
HB = BB + BL
8 = 3 + BL
BL = 5
• So how many hosts can we assign to
each subnet?
25 - 2 = 30 hosts
1. How many bits to borrow?
• Class B Example: 185.75.0.0
• Design goals specify no more than 126 hosts
per subnet, so how many bits do we need to
leave (BL)?
• How many bits in the host portion do we have
to work with (HB)?
• What’s the BL in our HB = BB + BL formula?
(16 = BB + BL)
• 2 to the what power will insure no more than
126 hosts per subnet and give us the most
subnets?
27 - 2 = 126 hosts
1. How many bits to borrow?
• How many bits are left for subnets?
HB = BB + BL
16 = BB + 7
BL = 9
• So how many subnets can we have?
29 - 2 = 510 subnets
2. What’s the subnet mask?
• We determine the subnet mask by adding up
the decimal value of the bits we borrowed.
• In the previous Class C example, we borrowed
3 bits. Below is the host octet showing the
bits we borrowed and their decimal values.
1 1 1
128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

We add up the decimal value of these bits and get 224.

That’s the last non-zero octet of our subnet mask.
So our subnet mask is 255.255.255.224
3. What’s the “magic number?”
• To find the “magic number” or the
multiplier we will use to determine the
subnetwork addresses, we subtract the
last non-zero octet from 256.
• In our Class C example, our subnet
mask was 255.255.255.224. 224 is our
last non-zero octet.
• Our magic number is 256 - 224 = 32
Last Non-Zero Octet
• Memorize this table. You should be able to:
 Quickly calculate the last non-zero octet when given the
number of bits borrowed.
 Determine the number of bits borrowed given the last
non-zero octet.
 Determine the amount of bits left over for hosts and the
number of host addresses available.

Bits Non-Zero
Borrowed Octet Hosts
2 192 62
3 224 30
4 240 14
5 248 6
6 252 2
4. What are the subnets?
• We now take our “magic number” and
use it as a multiplier.
• Our Class C address was 210.93.45.0.
• We borrowed bits in the fourth octet, so
that’s where our multiplier occurs
 1st subnet: 210.93.45.32
 2nd subnet: 210.93.45.64
 3rd subnet: 210.93.45.96
• We keep adding 32 in the fourth octet
to get all six available subnet addresses.
Host & Broadcast Addresses
• Now you can see why we subtract 2 when
determining the number of host address.
• Let’s look at our 1st subnet: 210.93.45.32
• What is the total range of addresses up to our
next subnet, 210.93.45.64?
• 210.93.45.32 to 210.93.45.63 or 32 addresses
• .32 cannot be assigned to a host. Why?
• .63 cannot be assigned to a host. Why?
• So our host addresses are .33 - .62 or 30 host
addresses--just like we figured out earlier.
Application
Presentation CIDR Notation
Session
Transport
A Different Way to
Network
Represent a Subnet Mask
Data-Link
Physical
CIDR Notation
• Classless Interdomain Routing is a method of
representing an IP address and its subnet
mask with a prefix.
• For example: 192.168.50.0/27
• What do you think the 27 tells you?
 27 is the number of 1 bits in the subnet mask.
Therefore, 255.255.255.224
 Also, you know 192 is a Class C, so we borrowed 3
bits!!
 Finally, you know the magic number is 256 - 224 =
32, so the first useable subnet address is
197.168.50.32!!
• Let’s see the power of CIDR notation.
202.151.37.0/26
• Subnet mask?
 255.255.255.192
• Bits borrowed?
 Class C so 2 bits borrowed
• Magic Number?
 256 - 192 = 64
• First useable subnet address?
 202.151.37.64
• Third useable subnet address?
 64 + 64 + 64 = 192, so 202.151.37.192
198.53.67.0/30
• Subnet mask?
 255.255.255.252
• Bits borrowed?
 Class C so 6 bits borrowed
• Magic Number?
 256 - 252 = 4
• Third useable subnet address?
 4 + 4 + 4 = 12, so 198.53.67.12
• Second subnet’s broadcast address?
 4 + 4 + 4 - 1 = 11, so 198.53.67.11
200.39.89.0/28
• What kind of address is 200.39.89.0?
 Class C, so 4 bits borrowed
 Last non-zero octet is 240
 Magic number is 256 - 240 = 16
 32 is a multiple of 16 so 200.39.89.32 is a
subnet address--the second subnet
address!!
• What’s the broadcast address of
200.39.89.32?
 32 + 16 -1 = 47, so 200.39.89.47
194.53.45.0/29
• What kind of address is 194.53.45.26?
 Class C, so 5 bits borrowed
 Last non-zero octet is 248
 Magic number is 256 - 248 = 8
 Subnets are .8, .16, .24, .32, ect.
 So 194.53.45.26 belongs to the third subnet
address (194.53.45.24) and is a host address.
• What broadcast address would this host use
to communicate with other devices on the
same subnet?
 It belongs to .24 and the next is .32, so 1 less is .
31 (194.53.45.31)
No Worksheet Needed!
• After some practice, you should never need a
subnetting worksheet again.
• The only information you need is the IP
address and the CIDR notation.
• For example, the address 221.39.50/26
• You can quickly determine that the first
subnet address is 221.39.50.64. How?
 Class C, 2 bits borrowed
 256 - 192 = 64, so 221.39.50.64
• For the rest of the addresses, just do
multiples of 64 (.64, .128, .192).
The Key!!
• MEMORIZE THIS TABLE!!!

Bits Non-Zero
Borrowed Octet
1 128
2 192
3 224
4 240
6 252
7 254
8 255
Practice On Your Own
• Below are some practice problems. Take out a sheet of paper and calculate...
 Bits borrowed
 Last non-zero octet
 Second subnet address and broadcast address
1. 192.168.15.0/26
2. 220.75.32.0/30
3. 200.39.79.0/29
4. 195.50.120.0/27
5. 202.139.67.0/28
6. Challenge: 132.59.0.0/19
7. Challenge: 64.0.0.0/16
Answers
Don’t Cheat Yourself!!
Work them out before you check your answers. Click
the back button if you’re not done. Otherwise, click
anywhere else in the screen to see the answers.

Bits Last Non- Magic 2nd Subnet's 2nd Subnet's

Address Class Borrowed Zero Octet Number Address Broadcast
192.168.15.0/26 C 2 192 64 192.168.15.128 192.168.15.191
220.75.32.0/30 C 6 252 4 220.75.32.8 220.75.32.11
200.39.79.0/29 C 5 248 8 200.39.79.16 220.39.79.23
195.50.120.0/27 C 3 224 32 195.50.120.64 195.50.120.95
202.139.67.0/28 C 4 240 16 202.139.67.32 202.139.67.47
Challenge:
132.59.0.0/19 B 3 224 32 132.59.64.0 132.59.95.255
64.0.0.0/16 A 8 255 1 64.2.0.0 64.2.255.255