What is Subnetting?

          Subnet  is a short word for Sub Network which is a small network within a network.  Subnets have a beginning number and an end number. The beginning number is the “Network ID” and the ending number is the “Broadcast ID” number.  IP subnetting is a critical piece of computer science if your goal is to be a good network engineer.  Subnetting is extremely difficult for students to understand and teaching subnetting can be even more difficult.

 While researching subnetting I came across Figure C. diagram of subnetting and reference guide by George Ou . In his article, “IP Subnetting Made Easy”(Ou). I don’t think there is anyone that can make subnetting easy but George gave it a shot and he has a better explanation than me.

According to the subnet table created by George Ou, “ look at Figure C. Notice the pattern and pay special attention to the numbers in red. Whenever you're dealing with subnets, it will come in handy to remember eight special numbers that reoccur when dealing with subnet masks. They are 255, 254, 252, 248, 240, 224, 192, and 128. You'll see these numbers over and over again in IP networking, and memorizing them will make your life much easier”(George Ou). The video below is about subnetting and it being taught by "Eli the computer guy." When I am having difficulty with home work I always go to Eli and he can get me through.