IP subnetting is considered to be a very critical and core part of any IP networking. Over these years, it has been found that a lot of people struggle a lot to understand and study as it’s never explained in a way that people can understand. Due to which the struggle a lot while dealing with IP subnetting in the field. Here we bring in for you A to Z aspects of IP subnetting explained in an easy way that anyone can understand it.
IP address and subnets
IP address or Internet Protocol is a communication protocol, which is used from the smallest private network of the huge global networks such as the internet. In short IP address is a unique identification address that is given to a device on an IP network. An IP address consists of a 32-bit number ranging from 0 to 4294967295. All these large blocks are divided into small blocks or octets in order to make it easier to handle.
A subnet is the smallest network within large networks which directly correlate with a LAN. These play a vital role in establishing a network of communication through which a network can directly communicate with other MAC addresses. Subnets are divided into two parts, the beginning part is the Network ID and the ending part is the Broadcast ID. A data is transferred through a Broadcast ID which sends it to the right address. Network ID helps to establish a connection between the networks
The subnet mask plays a very vital role in determining the size of any subnet. 255,254,252,248,240,224,192, and 128 are the special numbers which you will see over and over again in the IP networking. The first two classes with a host bit length from 0 to 16. Mostly private networks work in the 8- to 24- bit range.
The “mask” In Subnet Mask
The mask in the subnet just not determines the size of a subnet, but it also helps to point out the end points of a subnet if any IP address is given within that subnet. A subnet mask literally masks out the host bits and leaves only the Network ID. So that you can easily determine the end and the beginning of the subnet.