IP Subnet Addressing
IP networks can be divided into smaller networks called subnetworks (or subnets). Subnetting
provides the network administrator with several benefits, including extra flexibility, more efficient
use of network addresses, and the capability to contain broadcast traffic (a broadcast will not cross
a router).
Subnets are under local administration. As such, the outside world sees an organization as a single
network and has no detailed knowledge of the organization’s internal structure.
A given network address can be broken up into many subnetworks. For example, 172.16.1.0,
172.16.2.0, 172.16.3.0, and 172.16.4.0 are all subnets within network 171.16.0.0. (All 0s in the host
portion of an address specifies the entire network.)
IP Subnet Mask
A subnet address is created by “borrowing” bits from the host field and designating them as the
subnet field. The number of borrowed bits varies and is specified by the subnet mask. Figure 30-6
shows how bits are borrowed from the host address field to create the subnet address field.