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NBG334W User’s Guide
241
A
PPENDIX
C
IP Addresses and Subnetting
This appendix introduces IP addresses and subnet masks.
IP addresses identify individual devices on a network. Every networking device (including
computers, servers, routers, printers, etc.) needs an IP address to communicate across the
network. These networking devices are also known as hosts.
Subnet masks determine the maximum number of possible hosts on a network. You can also
use subnet masks to divide one network into multiple sub-networks.
Introduction to IP Addresses
One part of the IP address is the network number, and the other part is the host ID. In the same
way that houses on a street share a common street name, the hosts on a network share a
common network number. Similarly, as each house has its own house number, each host on the
network has its own unique identifying number - the host ID. Routers use the network number
to send packets to the correct network, while the host ID determines to which host on the
network the packets are delivered.
Structure
An IP address is made up of four parts, written in dotted decimal notation (for example,
192.168.1.1). Each of these four parts is known as an octet. An octet is an eight-digit binary
number (for example 11000000, which is 192 in decimal notation).
Therefore, each octet has a possible range of 00000000 to 11111111 in binary, or 0 to 255 in
decimal.
The following figure shows an example IP address in which the first three octets (192.168.1)
are the network number, and the fourth octet (16) is the host ID.
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Figure 142
Network Number and Host ID
How much of the IP address is the network number and how much is the host ID varies
according to the subnet mask.
Subnet Masks
A subnet mask is used to determine which bits are part of the network number, and which bits
are part of the host ID (using a logical AND operation). The term “subnet” is short for “sub-
network”.
A subnet mask has 32 bits. If a bit in the subnet mask is a “1” then the corresponding bit in the
IP address is part of the network number. If a bit in the subnet mask is “0” then the
corresponding bit in the IP address is part of the host ID.
The following example shows a subnet mask identifying the network number (in bold text)
and host ID of an IP address (192.168.1.2 in decimal).
By convention, subnet masks always consist of a continuous sequence of ones beginning from
the leftmost bit of the mask, followed by a continuous sequence of zeros, for a total number of
32 bits.
Subnet masks can be referred to by the size of the network number part (the bits with a “1”
value). For example, an “8-bit mask” means that the first 8 bits of the mask are ones and the
remaining 24 bits are zeroes.
Table 104
Subnet Mask - Identifying Network Number
1ST OCTET:
(192)
2ND
OCTET:
(168)
3RD
OCTET:
(1)
4TH OCTET
(2)
IP Address (Binary)
11000000
10101000
00000001
00000010
Subnet Mask (Binary)
11111111
11111111
11111111
00000000
Network Number
11000000
10101000
00000001
Host ID
00000010
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Subnet masks are expressed in dotted decimal notation just like IP addresses. The following
examples show the binary and decimal notation for 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit and 29-bit subnet
masks.
Network Size
The size of the network number determines the maximum number of possible hosts you can
have on your network. The larger the number of network number bits, the smaller the number
of remaining host ID bits.
An IP address with host IDs of all zeros is the IP address of the network (192.168.1.0 with a
24-bit subnet mask, for example). An IP address with host IDs of all ones is the broadcast
address for that network
(192.168.1.255 with a 24-bit subnet mask, for example).
As these two IP addresses cannot be used for individual hosts, calculate the maximum number
of possible hosts in a network as follows:
Notation
Since the mask is always a continuous number of ones beginning from the left, followed by a
continuous number of zeros for the remainder of the 32 bit mask, you can simply specify the
number of ones instead of writing the value of each octet. This is usually specified by writing
a “/” followed by the number of bits in the mask after the address.
For example, 192.1.1.0 /25 is equivalent to saying 192.1.1.0 with subnet mask
255.255.255.128.
The following table shows some possible subnet masks using both notations.
Table 105
Subnet Masks
BINARY
DECIMAL
1ST
OCTET
2ND
OCTET
3RD
OCTET
4TH OCTET
8-bit mask
11111111
00000000
00000000
00000000
255.0.0.0
16-bit mask
11111111
11111111
00000000
00000000
255.255.0.0
24-bit mask
11111111
11111111
11111111
00000000
255.255.255.0
29-bit mask
11111111
11111111
11111111
11111000
255.255.255.248
Table 106
Maximum Host Numbers
SUBNET MASK
HOST ID SIZE
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF HOSTS
8 bits
255.0.0.0
24 bits
2
24
– 2
16777214
16 bits
255.255.0.0
16 bits
2
16
– 2
65534
24 bits
255.255.255.0
8 bits
2
8
– 2
254
29 bits
255.255.255.248
3 bits
2
3
– 2
6
Table 107
Alternative Subnet Mask Notation
SUBNET MASK
ALTERNATIVE
NOTATION
LAST OCTET
(BINARY)
LAST OCTET
(DECIMAL)
255.255.255.0
/24
0000 0000
0
255.255.255.128
/25
1000 0000
128
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Subnetting
You can use subnetting to divide one network into multiple sub-networks. In the following
example a network administrator creates two sub-networks to isolate a group of servers from
the rest of the company network for security reasons.
In this example, the company network address is 192.168.1.0. The first three octets of the
address (192.168.1) are the network number, and the remaining octet is the host ID, allowing a
maximum of 2
8
– 2 or 254 possible hosts.
The following figure shows the company network before subnetting.
Figure 143
Subnetting Example: Before Subnetting
You can “borrow” one of the host ID bits to divide the network 192.168.1.0 into two separate
sub-networks. The subnet mask is now 25 bits (255.255.255.128 or /25).
The “borrowed” host ID bit can have a value of either 0 or 1, allowing two subnets;
192.168.1.0 /25 and 192.168.1.128 /25.
The following figure shows the company network after subnetting. There are now two sub-
networks,
A
and
B
.
255.255.255.192
/26
1100 0000
192
255.255.255.224
/27
1110 0000
224
255.255.255.240
/28
1111 0000
240
255.255.255.248
/29
1111 1000
248
255.255.255.252
/30
1111 1100
252
Table 107
Alternative Subnet Mask Notation (continued)
SUBNET MASK
ALTERNATIVE
NOTATION
LAST OCTET
(BINARY)
LAST OCTET
(DECIMAL)
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Appendix C IP Addresses and Subnetting
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245
Figure 144
Subnetting Example: After Subnetting
In a 25-bit subnet the host ID has 7 bits, so each sub-network has a maximum of 2
7
– 2 or 126
possible hosts (a host ID of all zeroes is the subnet’s address itself, all ones is the subnet’s
broadcast address).
192.168.1.0 with mask 255.255.255.128 is subnet
A
itself, and 192.168.1.127 with mask
255.255.255.128 is its broadcast address. Therefore, the lowest IP address that can be assigned
to an actual host for subnet
A
is 192.168.1.1 and the highest is 192.168.1.126.
Similarly, the host ID range for subnet
B
is 192.168.1.129 to 192.168.1.254.
Example: Four Subnets
The previous example illustrated using a 25-bit subnet mask to divide a 24-bit address into two
subnets. Similarly, to divide a 24-bit address into four subnets, you need to “borrow” two host
ID bits to give four possible combinations (00, 01, 10 and 11). The subnet mask is 26 bits
(11111111.11111111.11111111.
11
000000) or 255.255.255.192.
Each subnet contains 6 host ID bits, giving 2
6
- 2 or 62 hosts for each subnet (a host ID of all
zeroes is the subnet itself, all ones is the subnet’s broadcast address).
Table 108
Subnet 1
IP/SUBNET MASK
NETWORK NUMBER
LAST OCTET BIT
VALUE
IP Address (Decimal)
192.168.1.
0
IP Address (Binary)
11000000.10101000.00000001.
00
000000
Subnet Mask (Binary)
11111111.11111111.11111111.
11
000000
Subnet Address:
192.168.1.0
Lowest Host ID: 192.168.1.1
Broadcast Address:
192.168.1.63
Highest Host ID: 192.168.1.62

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