Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of elpmet
elpmet

asked on

Setting up subnet mask

Hi folks,

I'm running several computer labs, but all computers and printers are on the same subnet.  The problem is, computers in Lab A (for example) can "see" computers in Lab B (especially true in Mac).

And I'm wondering if there is any way to separate them by further dividing the subnet via changing subnet mas (right now, it's 255.255.255.0).  Each lab has a series of consecutive IP addresses.  For example,

Lab A uses from xxx.xxx.123.10 to xxx.xxx.123.35, and
Lab B uses from xxx.xxx.123.36 to xxx.xxx.123.60, etc.

Any help will be appreciated!  ~elpmet
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of gandalf94305
gandalf94305

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of gandalf94305
gandalf94305

Ah, just in case you were wondering why I used the magic numbers 1..30, 33..62, etc.:

The subnet mask defines which bits belong to the network and which to the host part of an IP address. Thus, 255.255.255.224 (FFFFFFE0) will leave the last six bits for the host part (123 is hexadecimal 7B):

xxxx7B01..xxxx7B1E (...1 to ...30) gives you a network mask of FFFFFFE0. The host part all one bits is the broadcast address, i.e., for that network: xxxx7B1F (...31).

You cannot have boundaries after 36 hosts. The number of hosts in a subnet is limited to a power of two minus two. Possible numbers are 2, 6, 14, 30, 62, 126, 254, ...

Cheers,
--gandalf.
Use the subnet mask 255.255.255.192.  This will give you a 4 possible subnets with 62 useable IP addresses per subnet.  For example, if your existing subnet is:
192.168.123.1 through 192.168.123.254 now;

You would then have:
192.168.123.1 through 192.168.123.62
192.168.123.65 through 192.168.123.126
192.168.123.129 through 192.168.123.190
192.168.123.193 through 192.168.123.254

The first and last IP addresses in each subnet are not useable because they are reserved for the network number and broadcast address for the subnet, respectively.

Avatar of Les Moore
All of these suggestions assume that you run TCP/IP only. I doubt that is the case and I'll bet NETBEUI and APPLETALK, possibly IPX/SPX are also running (enabled by default install on Windows 9x/NT). Changing the IP subnet mask will not make a difference. You will have to disable NETBEUI and IPX/SPX everywhere before even considering changing the subnets. Then you have to decide if there is ever a need to communicate between labs. In that case you will need something to route the packets between subnets.
Have any of these comments been of any help to you? Do you need more information?
Robert,

The example in you proposed answer is incorrect.

192.168.123.0/26 and 192.168.123.192/26 are technically NOT valid subnets.  The first one (192.168.123.0/26) can be used with IP Subnet Zero enabled on Cisco routers.  However the 192.168.123.192/26 subnet is invalid as the address 192.168.123.255 can not be both the network broadcast address for 192.168.123.0/24 (Since this is a Class C address) and the subnetwork broadcast address for 192.168.123.255.

Hope this helps.
helmet_js,
Look at the subnet mask.  It is /26 or 255.255.255.192.  This gives you the following subnets.

192.168.123.0
192.168.123.64
192.168.123.128
192.168.123.192

And the subnet 192.168.123.192 IS a valid subnet address.  And the broadcast address IS 192.168.123.255.  For the 192.168.123.0 subnet, the broadcast address is 192.168.123.63.  I am suggesting using the /26 subnet mask for the whole network, not for one subnet.

Get a subnet calculator.
Robert,

I do not need a subnet calculator and I did not say 192.168.123.0/26's subnet broadcast address is the 192.168.123.255.  I did say that 192.168.123.0 is a Class C address and as such, 192.168.123.0 is the network address and 192.168.123.255 is the network broadcast address for the whole class C.  Having that been said, a network broadcast address and a subnetwork broadcast address can NOT be the same IP.  Therefore, 192.168.123.192/26 is not technically a valid subnet since the subnetwork broadcast address would be 192.168.123.255.

Get a book on IP.
Also,
As of IOS version 12.0, Cisco routers now have ip subnet-zero enabled by default. You can use the no ip subnet-zero command to restrict the use of subnet zero addresses.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/105/40.html
Can I throw my two cents in?
You're both right.
Strict RFC classful behavior dictates that subnet zero and the broadcast subnet are not useable.
CIDR standards change that.
Cisco fully supports CIDR with "subnet zero" and "ip classless" commands in the IOS.
Microsoft does not adhere to the RFC's
Apple does
Novell ??
I don't think we can make the assumption that this network in question with its mix of operating systems and network OS's will fully support anything other than strict classful standards.


lrmoore,

I completely agree with you.  And the reason behind the use of the "not technically valid" statement.
No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.
I will leave a recommendation in the Cleanup topic area for this question:

I recommend: moderator support. Recommend split between lrmoore and gandalf

if there is any objection or other expert commentary to this recommendation then please post in here within 7 days.
If you feel that your question was not properly addressed, or that none of the comments received were appropriate answers, please post a request in Community support (with a link to this page) to refund your points. https://www.experts-exchange.com/Community_Support/

PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER!

thanks,
lrmoore
EE Cleanup Volunteer
---------------------
lrmoore, look for your question in this topic area

Computer101
E-E Admin