What is a subnet? | How subnetting work.
A subnet is a portion of a
network that has been divided for specific use, such as a department or group
of devices. It is created by using a subnet mask, which is a 32-bit number that
allows a network administrator to divide an IP address in to a network and host
address.
Subnetting works by taking a large network
and dividing it into smaller subnetworks, or subnets, based on the requirements
of the network. This is done by using the subnet mask to separate the network
portion of the IP address from the host portion of the IP address. The subnet
mask is a 32-bit number that is used to mask off the network bits from the host
bits of the IP address.
For example, consider the IP address
192.168.1.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The subnet mask indicates that
the first 24 bits of the IP address represent the network address, while the
last 8 bits represent the host address. This means that the network address for
this IP address is 192.168.1.0, and the host address can range from 1 to 254.
By subnetting a network, network
administrators can create smaller, more manageable subnetworks that can be used
to group devices based on location, department, or function. This can help to
improve network performance, security, and manageability.
Subnetting can be done using a variety of
techniques, such as classful subnetting and classless subnetting, and can be
implemented using hardware-based devices, such as routers and switches, or
through software-based tools, such as virtual machines and network
virtualization software.
Overall, subnetting is an important concept
in computer networking and is used to improve network performance, security,
and manageability by dividing a large network into smaller, more manageable
subnets.