
For example, the mask /25 corresponds to the binary value 11111111 11111111 11111111 10000000, which in turn (in dot-decimal notation) corresponds to 255.255.255.128.Īn IPv4 address consists of 32 bits. It’s possible to not only to fill octets completely with ones or zeros, but also to create more flexible subnets using VLSM. In CIDR notation, this (class C) subnet mask would be /24, since the first 24 bits determine the network component of the IP address. However, the basic principle remains the same: the suffix specifies which places (bits) of the IP address represent the network ID and therefore which bits automatically make up the range of the host ID. In CIDR format, this information is stored as a suffix in the IP address itself. 255.255.255.0) is like a mask on top of the IP address and specifies the hosts. For example, the class C networks were located between the addresses 192.0.0.0 and 223.255.255.255. This means that data packets are only sent to one destination – regardless of where the hosts are located.Īn IP address made it possible in the past to determine which class it belonged to. Supernets allow several networks to be combined into one route, which is why this technology is also called route aggregation (i.e. Supernets are important, for example, if a company has several locations but wants to deal with all computers in the same network. This means that it is not only possible to subdivide a network more precisely, but also to combine several networks.

But this not only shortens the display: CIDR also makes it possible to create supernets in addition to subnets. Instead of adding a subnet mask, a specification in the form of suffixes can also be integrated directly into the IP address using classless inter-domain routing. The subnet mask signals to the router which part of the IP address is assigned to the hosts (the individual participants of the network) and which determines the network. A mask is placed over an IP address and creates a sub network: a network that is subordinate to the internet. This means that several addresses are combined into one route.ĬIDR is based on the idea of subnet masks. Since CIDR assembles addresses into blocks, it is no longer necessary to store so much information in the routing tables. The size of the file grows exponentially when a path has to be introduced for every possible target. For routers to recognize what the optimal path through the network looks like, a corresponding table is fed with information. Data packets pass through many nodes from origin to destination. Routing tables are located in a router and help find the way to the correct destination address. To meet the needs of internet users better, it was decided to make the network sizes more flexible, to reduce the size of routing tables in internet routers, and to slow down the decrease in the number of available IP addresses.

This ultimately led to a lot of waste, since companies inevitably had to collect unused addresses.

For many companies, a network with only 254 participants was far too small, but several thousands of hosts need the fewest networks. This shows that the classification just wasn’t practical in most cases. The networks in class C only had an octet left and could only accommodate 254 (1-254, since 0 and 255 are always reserved) hosts. In class B, on the other hand, slightly more than 16,000 networks were possible, but each network could contain 65,534 hosts.

For example, a class A network could accommodate over 16 million hosts, but only 128 (0-127) of these networks were available.
