Figure 46-2 OSPF Packets Consist of Nine Fields

The following descriptions summarize the header fields illustrated in Figure 46-2. Version numberidentifies the OSPF version used. TypeIdentifies the OSPF packet type as one of the following: HelloEstablishes and maintains neighbor relationships.

Database descriptiondescribes the contents of the topological database. These messages are exchanged when an adjacency is initialized. Link-state requestRequests pieces of the topological database from neighbor routers. These messages are exchanged after a router discovers (by examining databasedescription packets) that parts of its topological database are outdated. Link-state updateresponds to a link-state request packet. These messages also are used for the regular dispersal of LSAs. Several LSAs can be included within a single link-state update packet. Link-state acknowledgmentAcknowledges link-state update packets. Packet lengthSpecifies the packet length, including the OSPF header, in bytes. Router IDIdentifies the source of the packet.

Area IDidentifies the area to which the packet belongs. All OSPF packets are associated with a single area. ChecksumChecks the entire packet contents for any damage suffered in transit.

Authentication typecontains the authentication type. All OSPF protocol exchanges are authenticated. The authentication type is configurable on per-area basis. AuthenticationContains authentication information. DataContains encapsulated upper-layer information.

Information on RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP Routing Protocol

RIP: The Routing Information Protocol is an open standard based Distance-Vector routing protocol. It comes on two versions RIP v.1 and RIP v.2. Followings are some important features of RIP:

RIP supports Bellman and Ford algorithm. RIP v.1 uses hop count as a metric while RIP v2 routing protocol metric is also hop count. The maximum hop counts for both are 15. RIP v.1 features the use of broadcast updates while RIP v.2 features the use of multicast routing updates. RIP v.1 is a classful routing protocol that supports FLSM while RIP v.2 is a classless routing protocol that supports VLSM. The administrative distance of RIP is 120. RIP supports equal metric load balancing.

OSPF: The Open Shortest Path First is an example of Link State routing protocol that supports variable length subnet masking and discontiguous subnets. Followings are some important features of OSPF:

OSPF advertise a large amount of topological information about the network includes what every metric is for every link. OSPF uses Shortest Path First (SPF) algorithm to calculate the metric. Using OSPF, routers perform CPU intensive data computations. OSPF discovers neighbors before exchanging routing information. The administrative distance of OSPF is 110. OSPF is a classless routing protocol that supports VLSM and CIDR. OSPF supports equal metric load balancing. The metric of OSPF is cost. EIGRP: The Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol is an enhanced Distance Vector routing protocol. It is also known as hybrid routing protocols that shares the attributes of both Distance Vector and Link State. It is a scalable routing protocol, even the largest EIGRP installation in the world network is running successfully with no EIGRP offset.

EIGRP possesses the following features:

It supports Variable Length Subnet Mask. It does not send a complete copy of its routing table to neighbours on a periodic basis. It can be enabled for IP as well as IPX and AppleTalk are also used as EIGRP protocols to connect EIGRP networks. It automatically redistributes routes with IGRP processes define in the same autonomous system. It performs same metric accumulation as IGRP. It creates topology table in addition to routing table for largest EIGRP network build. It converges quickly. Bandwidth, delay, load, reliability and MTU are used for calculating EIGRP routing metric. It uses dual algorithm. The administrative distance of EIGRP is 90. It is the Cisco proprietary routing protocol along with IGRP. It supports unequal metric load balancing by using "variance" command.

EIGRP vs. IGRP The EIGRP is supposed the second generation of IGRP but it has some differences as well as some similarities. The comparison of EIGRP over IGRP is as follows:

Both are Cisco Proprietary protocols. Both have same logic for equal cost paths. IGRP and EIGRP path selection is based on Bandwidth/Delay metric. Using some EIGRP commands maximum bandwidth can be changed as required while in IGRP it cannot be changed. Both have same metric accumulation, if divide the EIGRP metric by 256. EIGRP has fast convergence time while IGRP has a slow convergence time. EIGRP discovers neighbour before exchanging routing information while IGRP does not. IGRP sends full routing table during update while EIGRP does not, that's why in EIGRP split horizon issue does not come. IGRP requires Distance Vector loop avoidance features while EIGRP does not. EIGRP uses Dual algorithm while IGRP uses Bellman and Ford algorithm. IGRP send periodic routing updates every 90 seconds while EIGRP send triggered change-based updates when there is a topology change has been occurred.

BGP: The Border Gateway Protocol is an exterior gateway protocol that provides interautonomous system routing. It is the protocol of the internet. BGP operates in one

of two modes: internal BGP and external BGP. BGP path attributes fall into 4 separate categories:

Well-known Mandatory Well-known Discretionary Optional Transitive Optional non-transitive BGP path attribute usages are as follows: ORIGIN (BGP 4 Type Code 1) AS_PATH (BGP 4 Type Code 2) NEXT_HOP (BGP 4 Type Code 3) MULTI_EXIT_DISC (BGP 4 Type Code 4) LOGICAL_PREFERENCE (BGP 4 Type Code 5) AUTOMIC_AGGREGATE (BGP 4 Type Code 6) AGGREGATOR (BGP 4 Type Code 7)

Review Questions
QWhen using OSPF, can you have two areas attached to each other where only one AS has an interface in Area 0? AYes, you can. This describes the use of a virtual path. One area has an interface in Area 0 (legal), and the other AS is brought up and attached off an ABR in Area 1, so we'll call it Area 2. Area 2 has no interface in Area 0, so it must have a virtual path to Area 0 through Area 1. When this is in place, Area 2 looks like it is directly connected to Area 0. When Area 1 wants to send packets to Area 2, it must send them to Area 0, which in turn redirects them back through Area 1 using the virtual path to Area 2. QArea 0 contains five routers (A, B, C, D, and E), and Area 1 contains three routers (R, S, and T). What routers does Router T know exists? Router S is the ABR. ARouter T knows about routers R and S only. Likewise, Router S only knows about R and T, as well as routers to the ABR in Area 0. The AS's separate the areas so that router updates contain only information needed for that AS.

Ipv6 Review Questions

Qwhat is the current standard? AIPv4. Qwhat is the main reason for IPv6 being developed?

AThe main issue surrounding IPv6 is addressing, or the lack of addressing. Many people believe that we are nearly out of the four billion addresses available in IPv4. IPv6 could be the solution to many problems, but IPv6 is still not fully developed and is not yet a standard.

QHow many bits does the new expanded addressing provide? Athe expanded addressing moves us from 32-bit address to a 128-bit addressing method. Qwhat other benefits does expanded addressing provide? Ait provides newer unicast and broadcasting methods. Expanded addressing also injects hexadecimal into the IP address and moves from using "." to using ":" as delimiters. Qwhat are the new broadcast methods included in IPv6? AUnicast, multicast, and any cast. Qwhat is unicast? A Unicast is a communication between a single host and a single receiver. Qwhat is multicast? AMulticast is communication between a single host and multiple receivers. Qwhat is any cast? A Any cast is a communication between a single sender and a list of addresses.
Protocol Description OSI Model Layer(s) DOD Model Layer

FTP

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) provides a generic method Application, of transferring files. It can include file security through Presentation, usernames and passwords, and it allows file transfer Session between dissimilar computer systems. Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is similar to FTP. It Application, lets you transfer files between a host and an FTP Presentation, server. However, it provides no user authentication Session and uses UDP instead of TCP as the transport protocol. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used by Application, Web browsers and Web servers to exchange files Presentation, (such as Web pages) through the World Wide Web and Session intranets. HTTP can be described as an information requesting and responding protocol. It is typically used to request and send Web documents, but is also used as the protocol for communication between agents using different TCP/IP protocols.

Application/Process

TFTP HTTP

Application/Process Application/Process

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is used to route electronic mail through the internetwork. E-mail Application, applications provide the interface to communicate with Presentation, SMTP or mail servers. Session Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a protocol designed for managing complex networks. SNMP lets network hosts exchange configuration and status information. This information can be gathered by management software and used to monitor and manage the network.

Application/Process

SNMP

Application, Presentation, Session

Application/Process

Telnet

Remote Terminal Emulation (Telnet) allows an attached computer to act as a dumb terminal, with Application, data processing taking place on the TCP/IP host Presentation, computer. It is still widely used to provide connectivity Session between dissimilar systems. Network File System (NFS) was initially developed by Sun Microsystems. It consists of several protocols that Application, enable users on various platforms to seamlessly Presentation, access files from remote file systems. Session Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) operates at the Transport layer. It provides connection-oriented services and performs segment sequencing and service addressing. It also performs important errorchecking functions and is considered a host-to-host protocol.

Application/Process

NFS

Application/Process

TCP

Transport

Host-to-Host (Transport)

UDP

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is considered a host-tohost protocol like TCP. It also performs functions at the Transport layer. However, it is not connectionTransport oriented like TCP. Because of less overhead, it transfers data faster, but is not as reliable. Domain Name System (DNS) is a system that is distributed throughout the internet work to provide address/name resolution. For example, the name Transport "www.testout.com" would be identified with a specific IP address. Internet Protocol (IP) is the main TCP/IP protocol. It is a connectionless protocol that makes routing path decisions, based on the information it receives from Network ARP. It also handles logical addressing issues through the use of IP addresses. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) works closely with IP in providing error and control information that helps move data packets through the Network internet work. IGMP (Internet Group Membership Protocol) is a protocol for defining host groups. All group members can receive broadcast messages intended for the group (called multicasts). Multicast groups can be composed of devices within the same network or across networks (connected with a router).

Host-to-Host (Transport)

DNS

Host-to-Host (Transport)

IP

Internet

ICMP

Internet

IGMP

Network

Internet

ARP

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) creates a complete Network Internet address by combining the logical network

Internet

address with the physical address. It works with other protocols to provide logical name address resolution. RARP Both BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol) and RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) are used to discover the IP address of a device with a known MAC address. BOOTP is an enhancement to RARP, and is more commonly implemented than RARP. As its name implies, BOOTP is used by computers as they boot to receive an IP address from a BOOTP server. The BOOTP address request packet sent by the host is answered by the server. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) simplifies address administration. DHCP servers maintain a list of available and assigned addresses, and communicate configuration information to requesting hosts. DHCP has the following two components. DHCP Network Internet Network Internet

BOOTP

Network

Internet

A protocol for delivering IP configuration parameters from a DHCP server to a host A protocol specifying how IP addresses are assigned

OSPF

Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a route discovery protocol that uses the link-state method. It is more efficient than RIP in updating routing tables, especially Network on large networks. Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a route discovery protocol that uses the distance-vector method. If the network is large and complex, OSPF should be used Network instead of RIP.

Internet

RIP

Internet

Layer Application

Description and Keywords

Protocols

Devices

Encapsulation Messages and Packets

User interface Communication partner identification

HTTP Telnet FTP TFTP SNMP JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PICT MPEG, WMV, AVI ASCII, EBCDIC MIDI, WAV SQL NFS ASP RPC

Presentation

Data format (file formats) Encryption, translation, and compression Data format and exchange

Packets

Session

Keeps data streams separate (session identification) Set up, maintain, and tear down communication sessions

Packets


Transport

X window TCP (connectionoriented) UDP (connectionl ess) Segments, Datagrams, and Packets

Network

Reliable (connection-oriented) and unreliable (connectionless) communications End-to-end flow control Port and socket numbers Segmentation, sequencing, and combination Logical addresses Path determination (identification and selection) Routing packets Convert bits into bytes and bytes into frames MAC address, a.k.a. burned in address (BIA), hardware address Logical network topology Media access Flow control o Acknowledgements o Buffering o Windowing Parity and CRC

IP IPX AppleTalk DECNET

Router

Packets and Datagrams

Data Logical Link Link Control (LLC) Media Access Control (MAC)

NICs LAN Switches protocols: 802.2 (LLC), Bridges 802.3 (Ethernet), 802.5 (Token Ring), 802.11 (Wireless) WAN protocols: HDLC, PPP, Frame Relay, ISDN, ATM EIA/TIA 232 (serial signaling) V.35 (modem signaling) Cat5 RJ45

Frames

Physical

Move bits across media Cables, connectors, pin positions Electrical signals (voltage, bit synchronization) Physical topology (network layout)

Cable Bits Connectors Hubs and repeaters

Bridge Facts You should understand the following concepts relating to the operation of bridges.

Bridges connect two media segments that use the same protocol. Bridges examine the source address to determine the media segment of network devices. Bridges operate at the Data Link layer of the OSI model. Bridges maintain a table of device addresses and their corresponding segments. Each segment connected by a bridge can have the same network address. Messages within a media segment are prevented from crossing over to another segment.

Bridges offer the following advantages:

Bridges prevent wasted bandwidth by eliminating unnecessary traffic between segments. Bridges increase the maximum network length. Bridges forward packets for multiple upper-layer protocols. Bridges can link segments with dissimilar transmission media and media access methods.

Bridges have the following limitations:

Bridges cannot link multiple architectures because different frame types are used. Bridges cannot translate upper-layer protocols. Bridges cannot forward packets to different networks based on the network address. Bridges do not filter broadcast packets.

Use bridges to isolate traffic to a segment, or to prevent unwanted traffic from crossing over to other segments, or to slow WAN links. When designing the placement of bridges on the network, follow the 80/20 rule.

At least 80% of network traffic should stay within a segment. No more than 20% of network traffic should pass through the bridge to another segment.

Bridge Facts You should understand the following concepts relating to the operation of bridges.

Bridges connect two media segments that use the same protocol. Bridges examine the source address to determine the media segment of network devices. Bridges operate at the Data Link layer of the OSI model. Bridges maintain a table of device addresses and their corresponding segments. Each segment connected by a bridge can have the same network address.

Messages within a media segment are prevented from crossing over to another segment.

Bridges offer the following advantages: Bridges prevent wasted bandwidth by eliminating unnecessary traffic between segments.

Bridges increase the maximum network length. Bridges forward packets for multiple upper-layer protocols. Bridges can link segments with dissimilar transmission media and media access methods.

Bridges have the following limitations: Bridges cannot link multiple architectures because different frame types are used.

Bridges cannot translate upper-layer protocols. Bridges cannot forward packets to different networks based on the network address. Bridges do not filter broadcast packets.

Use bridges to isolate traffic to a segment, or to prevent unwanted traffic from crossing over to other segments, or to slow WAN links. When designing the placement of bridges on the network, follow the 80/20 rule.

Device Router

At least 80% of network traffic should stay within a segment. No more than 20% of network traffic should pass through the bridge to another segment. Characteristics Routers perform the following functions that are not performed by bridges or switches.

Route packets between separate networks Modify packet size through fragmentation and combination Route packets based on service address

Choose a router if you need to:

Connect your network to a WAN (such as the Internet) Filter broadcast traffic (prevent broadcast storms) Connect two separate networks that use the same protocol Improve performance in the event of a topology change (routers recover faster than bridges or switches) Reduce the number of devices within a domain (increase the number of broadcast domains) Enforce network security Dynamically select the best route through an internetwork Connect two networks of different architectures (e.g. Ethernet to token ring)

Choose a switch if you need to:

Switch

Provide guaranteed bandwidth between devices Reduce collisions by decreasing the number of devices in a collision domain (i.e. create multiple collision domains) Implement full-duplex communication Connect two network segments or devices using the same protocol Provide improved performance over a current bridged network Switch traffic without the cost or administration involved with routers

Choose a bridge if you need to:

Bridge

Isolate data traffic to one network segment Route traffic from one segment to another (with the same network ID) Link unlike physical media (e.g. twisted pair and coaxial Ethernet) of the same architecture type Link segments that use the same protocol Create segments without the expense and administration of routers

In most cases where you might use a bridge, choose a switch instead.

Use a bridge to segment the network (divide network traffic) and to provide fault tolerance. Use a switch to reduce collisions and offer guaranteed bandwidth between devices. Use a router to filter broadcast messages, implement security, or connect between different networks.

Spanning Tree Facts To provide for fault tolerance, many networks implement redundant paths between devices using multiple switches. However, providing redundant paths between segments causes packets to be passed between the redundant paths endlessly. This condition is known as a bridging loop. To prevent bridging loops, the IEEE 802.1d committee defined a standard called the spanning tree algorithm (STA), or spanning tree protocol (STP). With this protocol, one bridge (or switch) for each route is assigned as the designated bridge. Only the designated bridge can forward packets. Redundant bridges (and switches) are assigned as backups. The spanning tree algorithm provides the following benefits:

Eliminates bridging loops Provides redundant paths between devices Enables dynamic role configuration Recovers automatically from a topology change or device failure Identifies the optimal path between any two network devices

The spanning tree algorithm automatically discovers the network topology, and creates a single, optimum path through a network by assigning one of the following roles to each bridge or switch. The bridge role determines how the device functions in relation to other devices, and whether the device forwards traffic to other segments. Role Characteristics The root bridge is the master or controlling bridge. The root bridge periodically broadcasts configuration messages. These messages are used to select routes and reconfigure the roles of other bridges if necessary. There is only one root bridge per network. It should be assigned by the network administrator. When selecting the root bridge, select the bridge that is closest to the physical center of the network. A designated bridge is any other device that participates in forwarding packets through the network. They are selected automatically by exchanging bridge configuration packets. To prevent bridging loops, there is only one designated bridge per segment. All redundant devices are classified as backup bridges. Backup bridges listen to network traffic and build the bridge database. However, they will not forward packets. A backup bridge can take over if the root bridge or a designated bridge fails.

Root Bridge

Designated Bridge

Backup Bridge

Devices send special packets called Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs) out each port. BPDUs sent and received from other bridges are used to determine the bridge roles, verify that neighbor devices are still functioning, and recover from network topology changes. Devices participating in the spanning tree algorithm use the following process to configure themselves: 1. 2. 3. 4. At startup, switches send BPDUs (Bridge Protocol Data Units) out each port. Switches use information in the BPDUs to elect a root bridge. Switches on redundant paths are configured as either designated (active) or backup (inactive) switches. After configuration, switches periodically send BPDUs to ensure connectivity and discover topology changes.

As the switch participates in the configuration process, and while it operates, each of its ports is placed into one of five states. The port state determines whether the port receives and forwards normal network messages. Port State Description Disabled Blocking A device in the disabled state is powered on but does not participate in listening to network messages or forwarding them. A bridge must be manually placed in the disabled state. When a device is first powered on, it is in the blocking state. In addition, backup bridges are always in a blocking state. The bridge receives packets and BPDUs sent to all bridges, but will not process any other packets. The listening state is a transitionary state between blocking and learning. The port remains in listening state for a specific period of time. This time period allows network traffic to settle down after a change has occurred. For example, if a bridge goes down, all other bridges go to the listening state for a period of time. During this time the bridges redefine their roles. A port in the learning state is receiving packets and building the bridge database (associating MAC addresses with ports). A timer is also associated with this state. The port goes to the forwarding state after the timer expires. The root bridge and designated bridges are in the forwarding state when they can receive and forward packets. A port in the forwarding state can both learn and forward.

Listening

Learning Forwarding

Note: When you use spanning tree on a switch with multiple VLANs, each VLAN runs a separate instance of the spanning tree

Port Security Facts The basic function of a switch is to pass packets from one host to another. Under normal operations, the switch learns the MAC address of the device(s) connected to each of its ports. When a device is connected to the switch port, the MAC address of the frame from the connected device is place in a forwarding table. Under normal circumstances, there are no restrictions on the devices that can be attached to a switch port. With switch port security, you configure the switch to allow only specific devices to use a given port. You identify the MAC address of allowed devices. Any devices not explicitly identified will not be allowed to send frames through the switch. To configure port security, take the following general actions on the port:

Explicitly configure the port as an access port (a port with attached hosts, not with an attached switch). Enable switch port security. Identify the MAC addresses that can use the switch.

NAT Facts Network Address Translation (NAT) allows you to connect a private network to the Internet without obtaining registered addresses for every host. Private addresses are translated to the public address of the NAT router. NAT can be used to provide a measure of security for your private network, or to provide Internet connectivity with a limited number of registered IP addresses. Term Inside Outside Definition The inside network is the private network. A router interface that connects to the private network is also called the inside interface. The outside network is the public network (the Internet). A router interface that connects to the public network is also called the outside interface.

Inside local The inside local address is the IP address of the host on the inside network. address The inside global address is the IP address of the host after it has been translated for use on Inside global the Internet. The term global refers to the registered IP address that identifies the inside host address on the Internet. Outside global address The outside global address is an IP address of an Internet host. For example, when you visit a Web site, your computer will use the global outside address to contact the Web server.

An outside local address is an outside global address that has been translated for inside (or Outside local private) use. In other words, the NAT router translates an Internet host IP address into a address private IP address. Instead of using the Web server address, the internal computer will use the translated address instead.

Implementation Static NAT

Characteristics With static NAT, each inside host IP address is manually associated with a registered IP address. In other words, you manually map an inside local address to an inside global address. Dynamic NAT is just like static NAT, except that the address mappings are done automatically. The NAT router has a pool of inside global IP addresses that it uses to map to inside local addresses. Overloading is the process of assigning multiple inside local addresses to a single

Dynamic NAT Overload with Port

Address Translation (PAT)

inside global address. Port numbers are used to identify specific inside local hosts. The port number is appended to the inside global IP address.

Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSM)

0000 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0000 16 0001 17 0010 18 0011 19 0100 20 0101 21 0110 22 0111 23 1000 24 1001 25 1010 26 1011 27 1100 28 1101 29 1110 30 1111 31 1000

0001 0000 32 0001 33 0010 34 0011 35 0100 36 0101 37 0110 38 0111 39 1000 40 1001 41 1010 42 1011 43 1100 44 1101 45 1110 46 1111 47 1001

0010 0000 48 0001 49 0010 50 0011 51 0100 52 0101 53 0110 54 0111 55 1000 56 1001 57 1010 58 1011 59 1100 60 1101 61 1110 62 1111 63 1010

0011 0000 64 0001 65 0010 66 0011 67 0100 68 0101 69 0110 70 0111 71 1000 72 1001 73 1010 74 1011 75 1100 76 1101 77 1110 78 1111 79 1011

0100 0000 80 0001 81 0010 82 0011 83 0100 84 0101 85 0110 86 0111 87 1000 88 1001 89 1010 90 1011 91 1100 92 1101 93 1110 94 1111 95 1100

0101 0000 96 0001 97 0010 98 0011 99

0110

0111

0000 112 0000 0001 113 0001 0010 114 0010 0011 115 0011

0100 100 0100 116 0100 0101 101 0101 117 0101 0110 102 0110 118 0110 0111 103 0111 119 0111 1000 104 1000 120 1000 1001 105 1001 121 1001 1010 106 1010 122 1010 1011 107 1011 123 1011 1100 108 1100 124 1100 1101 109 1101 125 1101 1110 110 1110 126 1110 1111 111 1111 127 1111 1101 1110 1111

128 0000 144 0000 160 0000 176 0000 192 0000 208 0000 224 0000 240 0000 129 0001 145 0001 161 0001 177 0001 193 0001 209 0001 225 0001 241 0001 130 0010 146 0010 162 0010 178 0010 194 0010 210 0010 226 0010 242 0010 131 0011 147 0011 163 0011 179 0011 195 0011 211 0011 227 0011 243 0011 132 0100 148 0100 164 0100 180 0100 196 0100 212 0100 228 0100 244 0100 133 0101 149 0101 165 0101 181 0101 197 0101 213 0101 229 0101 245 0101 134 0110 150 0110 166 0110 182 0110 198 0110 214 0110 230 0110 246 0110 135 0111 151 0111 167 0111 183 0111 199 0111 215 0111 231 0111 247 0111 136 1000 152 1000 168 1000 184 1000 200 1000 216 1000 232 1000 248 1000 137 1001 153 1001 169 1001 185 1001 201 1001 217 1001 233 1001 249 1001 138 1010 154 1010 170 1010 186 1010 202 1010 218 1010 234 1010 250 1010 139 1011 155 1011 171 1011 187 1011 203 1011 219 1011 235 1011 251 1011 140 1100 156 1100 172 1100 188 1100 204 1100 220 1100 236 1100 252 1100 141 1101 157 1101 173 1101 189 1101 205 1101 221 1101 237 1101 253 1101 142 1110 158 1110 174 1110 190 1110 206 1110 222 1110 238 1110 254 1110 143 1111 159 1111 175 1111 191 1111 207 1111 223 1111 239 1111 255 1111

The following is a binary/decimal conversion chart: The idea behind variable length subnet masks is to offer more flexibility in dealing with dividing a major net into multiple subnets and still being able to maintain an adequate number of hosts in each subnet. Without VLSM one subnet mask only can be applied to a major network. This would restrict the number of hosts given the number of subnets required. If we pick the mask such that we have enough subnets, we wouldn't be able to allocate enough hosts in each subnet. The same is true for the hosts; a mask that allows enough hosts might not provide enough subnet space.