Target number of

hosts per subnet

During the previous meetings, we dealt with Fixed Length Subnet Mask where each subnet has a fixed size or number of hosts. With this setup, there are
subnets that are not maximized. Given the Class C network of 192.168.10.0/24, subnet the network in order to create the network in the figure below with the
host requirements shown.

SUBNET NETWORK ADDRESS IP RANGE BROADCAST ADDRESS

1A 192.168.10.0 192.168.10.1-192.168.10.30 192.168.10.31
2 B 192.168.10.32 192.168.10.33-192.168.10.62 192.168.10.63
3 C 192.168.10.64 192.168.10.65-192.168.10.94 192.168.10.95
4 D 192.168.10.96 192.168.10.97-192.168.10.126 192.168.10.127
5 E 192.168.10.128 192.168.10.129-192.168.10.158 192.168.10.159
6 F 192.168.10.160 192.168.10.161-192.168.10.190 192.168.10.191
7 G 192.168.10.192 192.168.10.193-192.168.10.222 192.168.10. 223
8 H 192.168.10.224 192.168.10.225-192.168.10.254 192.168.10.255

Basing on the example, the number of hosts per subnet is 32 regardless of the number of required number of hosts. Example, NetD, though it needs 7
connections only, will still be assigned a subnet with 32 available hosts. With this, 25 IP addresses will not be used. This is the reason why the Variable Length
Subnet Mask was introduced.
Variable Length Subnet Mask (Please refer to PDF file for further explanation)

Consider the same example,

Step 1: Determine the largest number of hosts. In this case, 28.

2n – 2 <= 28 hosts

n = 5 remaining bits after borrowing

Therefore, there are 23 = 8 subnets with 25 = 32 hosts per subnet

SUBNET NETWORK ADDRESS

/27
1 192.168.10.0 Net B 192.168.10.1-192.168.10.31
2 192.168.10.32 Net E 192.168.10.33-192.168.10.63
3 192.168.10.64
4 192.168.10.96
5 192.168.10.128
6 192.168.10.160
7 192.168.10.192
8 192.168.10.224
Step 2: Consider the next highest number of hosts. In this case, 14. Consider subnet 3. Divide it into two smaller subnets.

SUBNET NETWORK ADDRESS NETWORK

/27 ADDRESS
/28
1 192.168.10.0/27 Net B
Step 3. Consider Net C for serial
2 192.168.10.32/27 Net E
connection (it needs two usable IP
3 192.168.10.64 192.168.10.64/28 192.168.10.65 – 79 Net A
4 192.168.10.96 192.168.10.80/28 192.168.10.81 - 95 Net D addresses)
5 192.168.10.128
6 192.168.10.160
7 192.168.10.192
8 192.168.10.224
If you will see, this subnet has 16 hosts.
Although network D needs only 7, the subnet
cannot be divided further (8 each), because
Net D cannot be accommodated since there
will be only 6 usable hosts available.