IPv4 Subnetting from Beginning to Mastery
Published by Pearson
IP Subnetting for IT Pros and Cisco CCNA Candidates
Do you want to stop worrying about IPv4 subnetting and instead make IPv4 subnetting one of your strengths? Then come to this course, and come ready to dig in, practice, and learn.
The need to master IPv4 subnetting may be the single most critical skill when designing, engineering, and operating TCP/IP networks. IPv4 subnetting influences how IP works, including routing, routing protocols, and IP addressing. Additionally, subnetting requires the most effort, time, and practice to master compared to most TCP/IP topics due to the processes and related math details.
This course takes you through each area of subnetting to a depth useful for IT Pros and even deeper for certification candidates:
- Learn subnetting: Understand the ideas and terms in each part of IPv4 subnetting, use the ideas in the related mathematical processes, and the purpose and meaning of the facts learned by those processes.
- Do subnetting: First, understand the why and how of each subnetting process, and then practice – with the opportunity to make mistakes and get your questions answered during the course.
- Go faster at subnetting: For those preparing for Cisco CCNA or other certification exams, you need to be ready to do the math quickly. The course discusses how to practice for speed and how to set reasonable speed expectations.
The end goals of this course are simple: for you to know subnetting, be ready to talk subnetting, to be able to do subnetting math, and to be on the path to becoming fast enough at the math (without a calculator) to do well on the Cisco CCENT and CCNA exams.
What you’ll learn and how you can apply it
- Identify and describe IPv4 addressing and subnetting processes that reveal facts about a TCP/IP subnet.
- Perform various subnetting math processes to get the correct answer each time, including finding a host’s subnet ID, finding a subnet’s broadcast address, finding the range of IP addresses in the subnet, and manipulating subnet mask values into different formats.
- Describe the details of the IPv4 address space, including address classes, and predict facts about a class A, B, or C network.
- Analyze and describe a corporate subnetting plan, using correct terms and math processes, the number of subnets in the design, the number of host addresses in each subnet, and the possible subnet IDs per the design.
- Describe how a subnet mask controls the specifics of a subnetting design.
- Analyze the mask used in a design to determine the number of subnets created and the number of hosts per subnet.
- Develop your plan for completing your study and improving your subnetting speed and accuracy for upcoming exams.
This live event is for you because...
- You want to be better at your networking job, with a better understanding, better ability to troubleshoot, and a better ability to talk techie with your peers.
- You want to pass the Cisco CCNA 200-301 exam or the CCNP Enterprise ENCOR or ENARSI exams.
Prerequisites
- Required: None
- Useful: You will appreciate the subnetting topics of this class if you know the most basic concepts of IPv4 routing, routers, LANs, and WANs beforehand. You can get that level of knowledge from reading the following chapters in the book, “CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 1”.
- Chapter 2: “Fundamentals of Ethernet LANs”
- Chapter 3: “Fundamentals of WANs and IP Routing”
- Chapter 8: “Implementing Ethernet Virtual LANs,” using only the section titled “Virtual LAN Concepts”
Resources
- Paper and pen/pencil so you can work on subnetting math problems.
- Prepare any notetaking tools you prefer for any class, electronic or paper.
- A subnetting calculator would be helpful but not required. You can then use the calculator to check your answers when practicing. Search the net for any subnetting calculator, install, and experiment to find out if you like the tool. The calculator should let you type/select an IP address and mask, after which it should list the subnet ID, broadcast address, and range of usable IP addresses.
Schedule
The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.
Day 1: Operational Subnetting
Section 1: Analyzing Existing Subnets (2:40 hours)
What facts should you be able to determine about every IPv4 subnet that you see in a network? This section drills further into the different ideas about what a subnet is and what facts you might want to know about a subnet. This section of the course devotes most of its time to explaining and practicing the processes to discover facts about any subnet.
- Introducing Related Topics: IPv4 Addressing, Routing, and Routing Protocols
- IPv4 Subnetting: Topologies, Concepts, and Math
- Find the Subnet ID for the Easiest Cases
- Practice
- Find the Subnet ID (without a Calculator) for Difficult Cases
- Break
- Practice
Section 2: Working with Existing Subnet Masks (45 minutes)
What facts should you be able to determine about every IPv4 subnet that you see in a network? This section drills further into the different ideas about what a subnet is and what facts you might want to know about a subnet. This section focuses on explaining and practicing the processes to discovers facts about any subnet.
- Understanding Mask Mechanics
- Converting DDN Masks to Prefix Masks
- Converting Prefix Masks to DDN Masks
- Practice
Section 3: Understanding Public Networks, Private Networks, and CIDR Blocks (35 minutes)
Section 3 closes with the first part of section 3. Most companies subnet a public IP network or a private IP network to create most of the subnets they use. Section 3 focuses on the basics and the skills required to list key facts about these networks. Day 2 then begins by completing Section 3.
- Where Enterprises Begin: Public/Private Networks
- Listing Facts about a Classful Network
- Calculating the Network ID (and Related Facts) of a Network
- Practice
Day 2: Subnetting Design and Exam Prep Strategies
Section 3: (Continued) Understanding Public Networks, Private Networks, and CIDR Blocks (45 minutes)
Day 2 begins by completing section 3 (the section that ends of Day 1), discussing how enterprises choose IPv4 addresses to use. Some companies use public networks, but companies often use a combination of private networks, NAT, and either a public Class C network or a public CIDR block. This section defines those concepts so you can understand the choices made at your company.
- Examining the Entire IPv4 Address Space
- Private Networks, NAT, and CIDR Blocks
Section 4: Interpreting Subnet Designs and Plans (2:00 hours)
Day 2’s topics reveal more insights about the design choices, beginning with this section. This section explains how a network engineer views the options of different subnet masks, with a progressively longer mask creating twice as many subnets as the previous mask – but with each subnet then half as large. The section then shows how you can determine all subnet IDs in a design, assuming all subnets use the same mask.
- Noticing Patterns in a Subnetted Network
- Understanding Classless Addressing and Classful Addressing
- Practice
- Break
- How to Create Design with Less Than 256 Subnets
- Practice
- How to Create Design with More Than 256 Subnets
Section 5: Subnet Design Insights Through Subnet Masks (45 Minutes)
The choice of subnet mask reveals critical facts about the IPv4 subnetting plan: The number of subnets and the size of each subnet. This next section explains the related logic and shows how to calculate the number of subnets and their size.
- Interpreting the Meaning of Existing Subnet Masks
- Practice
- The Impact of VLSM on the CCNA Exam
Section 6: Moving Forward: Exams and More Practice (30 Minutes)
The final section examines subnetting on the CCNA exam. It then closes with a plan for how to continue to improve your subnetting after the course.
- CCNA Exam Overview
- Exam Day Plan for Subnetting
- Practice Options after Class
- Open Exam Q&A
Your Instructor
Wendell Odom
Wendell Odom, CCIE No. 1624, creates many of the best-selling Cisco certification products of their types, particular in the routing and switching space. He has pioneered the authorized Cisco Certification Guide series at Cisco Press and has written every edition of the leading CCNA Certification Guides. He has written over 30 editions of networking books, video, and software products, ranging in depth from introductory level to CCIE. Wendell has worked as an instructor, course developer, network engineer, and consultant. Find links to more study tools and resources (including his blogs) at www.certskills.com.