With cidr, network techs refer to the subnet mask by the number of ________ it contains.

A company has a class C network address of 204.204.204.0. It wishes to have three subnets, one with 100 hosts and two with 50 hosts each. Which one of the following options represents a feasible set of subnet address/subnet mask pairs?

 
(A) 204.204.204.128/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.0/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.64/255.255.255.128
(B) 204.204.204.0/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.192/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.64/255.255.255.128
(C) 204.204.204.128/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.192/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.224/255.255.255.192
(D) 204.204.204.128/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.64/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.0/255.255.255.192


Answer: (D)

Explanation:  
Background Reading:

IP address is used to uniquely identify a host.

->Address range
 Class A    1.0.0.1 to 126.255.255.254
 Class B    128.1.0.1 to 191.255.255.254
 Class C    192.0.1.1 to 223.255.254.254
 Class D    224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255

(127.0.0.0 to 127.255.255.255 – used for loopback functionality : which will point back to the computer’s own tcp/ip network configuration.)

(1)x.x.x.0 and x.x.x.255 addresses are used for directed broadcast address and network ID. So,these two addresses are not used by hosts.

(2)Network ID is computed by performing logical & on IP address with subnet mask. -> IPV4 addresses are 32 bit and they are used as follows for:

           Identifying Networks(bit no.)        Identifying Hosts(bit no.)
 Class A              1-8                        9-32 
 Class B              1-16                     17-32
 Class C              1-24                           25-32

Now, let’s come back to the question:

Here, company has class C address of 204.204.204.0(11001100.11001100.11001100.00000000), 1-24 bits are identifying the network. So, network has IP addresses from 204.204.204.0 to 204.204.204.255.

->Subnetting is a practice in which we can divide the network in two or more parts. For this we will have to borrow few bits from the hosts part.

-> In subnet mask, all network + subnetwork bits are 1 and host bits are 0.

Option (A) 
204.204.204.128/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.0/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.64/255.255.255.128

1) 11001100.11001100.11001100.10000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 Network bits-26 (as 26 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id = 204.204.204.128 (refer(2)) 6 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 64(i.e. 2^6) -2 = 62 hosts (refer (1) )

2) 11001100.11001100.11001100.00000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000 Network bits-25 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id = 204.204.204.0 (refer(2)) 7 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 128(i.e.2^7) -2 =126 hosts (refer (1) )

3) 11001100.11001100.11001100.01000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000 Network bits-25 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id = 204.204.204.0 ( refer(2)) 7 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 128(i.e.2^7) -2 = 126 hosts (refer (1) )

Though the networks are divided into subnets containing 62,126,126 hosts which satisfy our minimum criteria of 50,50,100. But, two subnets have same network ID thus,they are not different.Thus,this division is only of two subnets but we need 3 ,so A option is incorrect.

Option (B) 
204.204.204.0/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.192/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.64/255.255.255.128

1) 11001100.11001100.11001100.00000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 Network bits-26 (as 26 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id = 204.204.204.0 (refer(2)) 6 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 64(i.e. 2^6)-2=62 hosts (refer (1))

2) 11001100.11001100.11001100.11000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000 Network bits-25 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id = 204.204.204.128 (refer(2)) 7 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 128(i.e.2^7)-2=126 hosts (refer (1))

3) 11001100.11001100.11001100.01000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000 Network bits-25 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id = 204.204.204.0 (refer(2)) 7 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 128(i.e.2^7)-2=126 hosts (refer (1))

Though the networks are divided into subnets containing 62,126,126 hosts which satisfy our minimum criteria of 50,50,100. But, two subnets have same network ID thus,they are not different.Thus,this division is only of two subnets.

Option (C) 
204.204.204.128/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.192/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.224/255.255.255.192

1) 11001100.11001100.11001100.10000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000 Network bits-25 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id == 204.204.204.128 (refer(2)) 7 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 128(i.e. 2^7) -2 =126 hosts (refer 1)

2) 11001100.11001100.11001100.11000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 Network bits-26 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id == 204.204.204.192 (refer(2)) 6 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 64(i.e.2^6)-2=62 hosts(refer 1)

3) 11001100.11001100.11001100.11110000/11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 Network bits-26 (as 26 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id == 204.204.204.192 (refer (2)) 6 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 64(i.e.2^6) -2=62 hosts (refer 1)

Though the networks are divided into subnets containing 62,62,126 hosts which satisfy our minimum criteria of 50,50,100. But, two subnets have same network ID thus,they are not different.Thus,this division is only of two subnets.

Option (D) 
204.204.204.128/255.255.255.128
204.204.204.64/255.255.255.192
204.204.204.0/255.255.255.192

1) 11001100.11001100.11001100.10000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.10000000 –> Network bits-25 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id == 204.204.204.128 (refer(2)) 7 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 128(i.e. 2^7)-2=126 hosts (refer(1))

2) 11001100.11001100.11001100.01000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 –> Network bits-26 (as 25 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id == 204.204.204.64 (refer(2)) 6 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 64(i.e.2^6)-2=62 hosts (refer(1))

3) 11001100.11001100.11001100.00000000/11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000 –> Network bits-26 (as 26 bits are 1 in the subnet mask) so sub-network id == 204.204.204.0 (refer(2)) 6 bits ‘0’ in subnet mask,i.e. 64(i.e.2^6)-2=62 host bits (refer(1)) This satisfies the minimum criteria of 50,50 and 100 hosts and all subnet IDs are different .Thus,option D is correct.

This explanation is provided by Shashank Shanker.

Quiz of this Question

Which of the following is a correct form of CIDR notation quizlet?

Which of the following is a correct form of CIDR notation? 192.168. 1.0/24; CIDR notation uses a forward slash and then lists the numbers of bits in the subnet mask.

What is a subnet quizlet?

Subnetting is the division of large blocks of IP addresses allocated to an organization into smaller address blocks called subnets. Each department within the organization can be assigned one or more of these smaller address blocks.

What's the term for each grouping of 8 bits in an IP address?

The host number identifies a host in the network and is assigned by the local network administrator. IP Address Format: The 32-bit IP address is grouped 8 bits at a time, each group of 8 bits is an octet.

When you set the IP address manually the IP address is not subject to change and is called a n?

A static IP address is one that was manually created, as opposed to having been assigned. A static address also does not change, whereas a dynamic IP address has been assigned by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and is subject to change.