Fundamental Architecture

Computer Network Architecture is defined as the physical and logical design of the software,
hardware, protocols, and media of the transmission of data. Simply we can say that how
computers are organized and how tasks are allocated to the computer.
The two types of network architectures are used:

o Peer-To-Peer network
o Client/Server network

Peer-To-Peer network

o Peer-To-Peer network is a network in which all the computers are linked together
with equal privilege and responsibilities for processing the data.
o Peer-To-Peer network is useful for small environments, usually up to 10 computers.
o Peer-To-Peer network has no dedicated server.
o Special permissions are assigned to each computer for sharing the resources, but this
can lead to a problem if the computer with the resource is down.

Advantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:

o It is less costly as it does not contain any dedicated server.
o If one computer stops working but, other computers will not stop working.
o It is easy to set up and maintain as each computer manages itself.

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Disadvantages Of Peer-To-Peer Network:
o In the case of Peer-To-Peer network, it does not contain the centralized system .
Therefore, it cannot back up the data as the data is different in different locations.
o It has a security issue as the device is managed itself.

Client/Server Network

o Client/Server network is a network model designed for the end users called clients, to
access the resources such as songs, video, etc. from a central computer known as
Server.
o The central controller is known as a server while all other computers in the network
are called clients.
o A server performs all the major operations such as security and network management.
o A server is responsible for managing all the resources such as files, directories,
printer, etc.
o All the clients communicate with each other through a server. For example, if client1
wants to send some data to client 2, then it first sends the request to the server for the
permission. The server sends the response to the client 1 to initiate its communication
with the client 2.

Advantages Of Client/Server network:

o A Client/Server network contains the centralized system. Therefore we can back up
the data easily.

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 o A Client/Server network has a dedicated server that improves the overall performance
of the whole system.
o Security is better in Client/Server network as a single server administers the shared
resources.
o It also increases the speed of the sharing resources.

Disadvantages Of Client/Server network:

o Client/Server network is expensive as it requires the server with large memory.
o A server has a Network Operating System(NOS) to provide the resources to the
clients, but the cost of NOS is very high.
o It requires a dedicated network administrator to manage all the resources.

Computer Network Components

Computer network components are the major parts which are needed to install the software.
Some important network components are NIC, switch, cable, hub, router, and modem.
Depending on the type of network that we need to install, some network components can also
be removed. For example, the wireless network does not require a cable.

NIC

o NIC stands for network interface card.

o NIC is a hardware component used to connect a computer with another computer onto
a network
o It can support a transfer rate of 10,100 to 1000 Mb/s.
o The MAC address or physical address is encoded on the network card chip which is
assigned by the IEEE to identify a network card uniquely. The MAC address is stored
in the PROM (Programmable read-only memory).

Hub

A Hub is a hardware device that divides the network connection among multiple devices.
When computer requests for some information from a network, it first sends the request to the

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Hub through cable. Hub will broadcast this request to the entire network. All the devices will
check whether the request belongs to them or not. If not, the request will be dropped.

The process used by the Hub consumes more bandwidth and limits the amount of
communication. Nowadays, the use of hub is obsolete, and it is replaced by more advanced
computer network components such as Switches, Routers.

Switch

A switch is a hardware device that connects multiple devices on a computer network. A

Switch contains more advanced features than Hub. The Switch contains the updated table that
decides where the data is transmitted or not. Switch delivers the message to the correct
destination based on the physical address present in the incoming message. A Switch does
not broadcast the message to the entire network like the Hub. It determines the device to
whom the message is to be transmitted. Therefore, we can say that switch provides a direct
connection between the source and destination. It increases the speed of the network.

Router

o A router is a hardware device which is used to connect a LAN with an internet

connection. It is used to receive, analyze and forward the incoming packets to another
network.
o A router works in a Layer 3 (Network layer) of the OSI Reference model.
o A router forwards the packet based on the information available in the routing table.
o It determines the best path from the available paths for the transmission of the packet.

Advantages Of Router:
o Security: The information which is transmitted to the network will traverse the entire
cable, but the only specified device which has been addressed can read the data.
o Reliability: If the server has stopped functioning, the network goes down, but no
other networks are affected that are served by the router.
o Performance: Router enhances the overall performance of the network. Suppose
there are 24 workstations in a network generates a same amount of traffic. This
increases the traffic load on the network. Router splits the single network into two
networks of 12 workstations each, reduces the traffic load by half.
o Network range

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Modem

o A modem is a hardware device that allows the computer to connect to the internet
over the existing telephone line.
o A modem is not integrated with the motherboard rather than it is installed on the PCI
slot found on the motherboard.
o It stands for Modulator/Demodulator. It converts the digital data into an analog signal
over the telephone lines.

Based on the differences in speed and transmission rate, a modem can be classified in the
following categories:

o Standard PC modem or Dial-up modem

o Cellular Modem
o Cable modem

OSI Model
o OSI stands for Open System Interconnection is a reference model that describes
how information from a software application in one computer moves through a
physical medium to the software application in another computer.
o OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular network function.
o OSI model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
in 1984, and it is now considered as an architectural model for the inter-computer
communications.
o OSI model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks. Each
layer is assigned a particular task.
o Each layer is self-contained, so that task assigned to each layer can be performed
independently.

Characteristics of OSI Model:

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 o The OSI model is divided into two layers: upper layers and lower layers.
o The upper layer of the OSI model mainly deals with the application related issues, and
they are implemented only in the software. The application layer is closest to the end
user. Both the end user and the application layer interact with the software
applications. An upper layer refers to the layer just above another layer.
o The lower layer of the OSI model deals with the data transport issues. The data link
layer and the physical layer are implemented in hardware and software. The physical
layer is the lowest layer of the OSI model and is closest to the physical medium. The
physical layer is mainly responsible for placing the information on the physical
medium.

7 Layers of OSI Model

There are the seven OSI layers. Each layer has different functions. A list of seven layers are
given below:

1. Physical Layer
2. Data-Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer

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 6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer

1) Physical layer

o he main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one
node to another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface specifications.

Functions of a Physical layer:

o Line Configuration: It defines the way how two or more devices can be connected
physically.

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 o Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is simplex, half-
duplex or full-duplex mode between the two devices on the network.
o Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
o Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.

2) Data-Link Layer

o This layer is responsible for the error-free transfer of data frames.

o It defines the format of the data on the network.
o It provides a reliable and efficient communication between two or more devices.
o It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of each device that resides on a
local network.
o It contains two sub-layers:
o Logical Link Control Layer
o It is responsible for transferring the packets to the Network layer of the
receiver that is receiving.
o It identifies the address of the network layer protocol from the header.
o It also provides flow control.
o Media Access Control Layer
o A Media access control layer is a link between the Logical Link
Control layer and the network's physical layer.
o It is used for transferring the packets over the network.

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Functions of the Data-link layer

o Framing: The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit stream into packets
known as Frames. The Data link layer adds the header and trailer to the frame. The
header which is added to the frame contains the hardware destination and source
address.

o Physical Addressing: The Data link layer adds a header to the frame that contains a
destination address. The frame is transmitted to the destination address mentioned in
the header.
o Flow Control: Flow control is the main functionality of the Data-link layer. It is the
technique through which the constant data rate is maintained on both the sides so that
no data get corrupted. It ensures that the transmitting station such as a server with
higher processing speed does not exceed the receiving station, with lower processing
speed.
o Error Control: Error control is achieved by adding a calculated value CRC (Cyclic
Redundancy Check) that is placed to the Data link layer's trailer which is added to the
message frame before it is sent to the physical layer. If any error seems to occurr, then
the receiver sends the acknowledgment for the retransmission of the corrupted frames.
o Access Control: When two or more devices are connected to the same
communication channel, then the data link layer protocols are used to determine
which device has control over the link at a given time.

3) Network Layer

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 o It is a layer 3 that manages device addressing, tracks the location of devices on the
network.
o It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the
network conditions, the priority of service, and other factors.
o The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the packets.
o Routers are the layer 3 devices, they are specified in this layer and used to provide the
routing services within an internetwork.
o The protocols used to route the network traffic are known as Network layer protocols.
Examples of protocols are IP and Ipv6.

Functions of Network Layer:

o Internetworking: An internetworking is the main responsibility of the network layer.

It provides a logical connection between different devices.
o Addressing: A Network layer adds the source and destination address to the header
of the frame. Addressing is used to identify the device on the internet.
o Routing: Routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines the
best optimal path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination.
o Packetizing: A Network Layer receives the packets from the upper layer and converts
them into packets. This process is known as Packetizing. It is achieved by internet
protocol (IP).

4) Transport Layer

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 o The Transport layer is a Layer 4 ensures that messages are transmitted in the order in
which they are sent and there is no duplication of data.
o The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data completely.
o It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into smaller units known
as segments.
o This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a point-to-point
connection between source and destination to deliver the data reliably.

The two protocols used in this layer are:

o Transmission Control Protocol

o It is a standard protocol that allows the systems to communicate over the
internet.
o It establishes and maintains a connection between hosts.
o When data is sent over the TCP connection, then the TCP protocol divides the
data into smaller units known as segments. Each segment travels over the
internet using multiple routes, and they arrive in different orders at the
destination. The transmission control protocol reorders the packets in the
correct order at the receiving end.
o User Datagram Protocol
o User Datagram Protocol is a transport layer protocol.
o It is an unreliable transport protocol as in this case receiver does not send any
acknowledgment when the packet is received, the sender does not wait for any
acknowledgment. Therefore, this makes a protocol unreliable.

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Functions of Transport Layer:

o Service-point addressing: Computers run several programs simultaneously due to

this reason, the transmission of data from source to the destination not only from one
computer to another computer but also from one process to another process. The
transport layer adds the header that contains the address known as a service-point
address or port address. The responsibility of the network layer is to transmit the data
from one computer to another computer and the responsibility of the transport layer is
to transmit the message to the correct process.
o Segmentation and reassembly: When the transport layer receives the message from
the upper layer, it divides the message into multiple segments, and each segment is
assigned with a sequence number that uniquely identifies each segment. When the
message has arrived at the destination, then the transport layer reassembles the
message based on their sequence numbers.
o Connection control: Transport layer provides two services Connection-oriented
service and connectionless service. A connectionless service treats each segment as an
individual packet, and they all travel in different routes to reach the destination. A
connection-oriented service makes a connection with the transport layer at the
destination machine before delivering the packets. In connection-oriented service, all
the packets travel in the single route.
o Flow control: The transport layer also responsible for flow control but it is performed
end-to-end rather than across a single link.
o Error control: The transport layer is also responsible for Error control. Error control
is performed end-to-end rather than across the single link. The sender transport layer
ensures that message reach at the destination without any error.

5) Session Layer

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 o It is a layer 3 in the OSI model.
o The Session layer is used to establish, maintain and synchronizes the interaction
between communicating devices.

Functions of Session layer:

o Dialog control: Session layer acts as a dialog controller that creates a dialog between
two processes or we can say that it allows the communication between two processes
which can be either half-duplex or full-duplex.
o Synchronization: Session layer adds some checkpoints when transmitting the data in
a sequence. If some error occurs in the middle of the transmission of data, then the
transmission will take place again from the checkpoint. This process is known as
Synchronization and recovery.

6) Presentation Layer

o A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and semantics of the
information exchanged between the two systems.
o It acts as a data translator for a network.
o This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data from one
presentation format to another format.
o The Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer.

Functions of Presentation layer:

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 o Translation: The processes in two systems exchange the information in the form of
character strings, numbers and so on. Different computers use different encoding
methods, the presentation layer handles the interoperability between the different
encoding methods. It converts the data from sender-dependent format into a common
format and changes the common format into receiver-dependent format at the
receiving end.
o Encryption: Encryption is needed to maintain privacy. Encryption is a process of
converting the sender-transmitted information into another form and sends the
resulting message over the network.
o Compression: Data compression is a process of compressing the data, i.e., it reduces
the number of bits to be transmitted. Data compression is very important in
multimedia such as text, audio, video.

7) Application Layer

o An application layer serves as a window for users and application processes to access
network service.
o It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation, etc.
o An application layer is not an application, but it performs the application layer
functions.
o This layer provides the network services to the end-users.

Functions of Application layer:

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 o File transfer, access, and management (FTAM): An application layer allows a user
to access the files in a remote computer, to retrieve the files from a computer and to
manage the files in a remote computer.
o Mail services: An application layer provides the facility for email forwarding and
storage.
o Directory services: An application provides the distributed database sources and is
used to provide that global information about various objects.

TCP/IP model
o The TCP/IP model was developed prior to the OSI model.
o The TCP/IP model is not exactly similar to the OSI model.
o The TCP/IP model consists of five layers: the application layer, transport layer,
network layer, data link layer and physical layer.
o The first four layers provide physical standards, network interface, internetworking,
and transport functions that correspond to the first four layers of the OSI model and
these four layers are represented in TCP/IP model by a single layer called the
application layer.
o TCP/IP is a hierarchical protocol made up of interactive modules, and each of them
provides specific functionality.

Here, hierarchical means that each upper-layer protocol is supported by two or more lower-
level protocols.

Functions of TCP/IP layers:

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Network Access Layer

o A network layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model.

o A network layer is the combination of the Physical layer and Data Link layer defined
in the OSI reference model.
o It defines how the data should be sent physically through the network.
o This layer is mainly responsible for the transmission of the data between two devices
on the same network.
o The functions carried out by this layer are encapsulating the IP datagram into frames
transmitted by the network and mapping of IP addresses into physical addresses.
o The protocols used by this layer are ethernet, token ring, FDDI, X.25, frame relay.

Internet Layer

o An internet layer is the second layer of the TCP/IP model.

o An internet layer is also known as the network layer.
o The main responsibility of the internet layer is to send the packets from any network,
and they arrive at the destination irrespective of the route they take.

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Following are the protocols used in this layer are:

IP Protocol: IP protocol is used in this layer, and it is the most significant part of the entire
TCP/IP suite.

Following are the responsibilities of this protocol:

o IP Addressing: This protocol implements logical host addresses known as IP

addresses. The IP addresses are used by the internet and higher layers to identify the
device and to provide internetwork routing.
o Host-to-host communication: It determines the path through which the data is to be
transmitted.
o Data Encapsulation and Formatting: An IP protocol accepts the data from the
transport layer protocol. An IP protocol ensures that the data is sent and received
securely, it encapsulates the data into message known as IP datagram.
o Fragmentation and Reassembly: The limit imposed on the size of the IP datagram
by data link layer protocol is known as Maximum Transmission unit (MTU). If the
size of IP datagram is greater than the MTU unit, then the IP protocol splits the
datagram into smaller units so that they can travel over the local network.
Fragmentation can be done by the sender or intermediate router. At the receiver side,
all the fragments are reassembled to form an original message.
o Routing: When IP datagram is sent over the same local network such as LAN, MAN,
WAN, it is known as direct delivery. When source and destination are on the distant
network, then the IP datagram is sent indirectly. This can be accomplished by routing
the IP datagram through various devices such as routers.
o User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
o It provides connectionless service and end-to-end delivery of transmission.
o It is an unreliable protocol as it discovers the errors but not specify the error.
o User Datagram Protocol discovers the error, and ICMP protocol reports the
error to the sender that user datagram has been damaged.
o UDP consists of the following fields:
Source port address: The source port address is the address of the application
program that has created the message.
Destination port address: The destination port address is the address of the
application program that receives the message.
Total length: It defines the total number of bytes of the user datagram in

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 bytes.
Checksum: The checksum is a 16-bit field used in error detection.
o UDP does not specify which packet is lost. UDP contains only checksum; it
does not contain any ID of a data segment.

o Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

o It provides a full transport layer services to applications.
o It creates a virtual circuit between the sender and receiver, and it is active for
the duration of the transmission.
o TCP is a reliable protocol as it detects the error and retransmits the damaged
frames. Therefore, it ensures all the segments must be received and
acknowledged before the transmission is considered to be completed and a
virtual circuit is discarded.
o At the sending end, TCP divides the whole message into smaller units known
as segment, and each segment contains a sequence number which is required
for reordering the frames to form an original message.
o At the receiving end, TCP collects all the segments and reorders them based
on sequence numbers.

Application Layer

o An application layer is the topmost layer in the TCP/IP model.

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 o It is responsible for handling high-level protocols, issues of representation.
o This layer allows the user to interact with the application.
o When one application layer protocol wants to communicate with another application
layer, it forwards its data to the transport layer.
o There is an ambiguity occurs in the application layer. Every application cannot be
placed inside the application layer except those who interact with the communication
system. For example: text editor cannot be considered in application layer while web
browser using HTTP protocol to interact with the network where HTTP protocol is
an application layer protocol.

Following are the main protocols used in the application layer:

o HTTP: HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol. This protocol allows us to
access the data over the world wide web. It transfers the data in the form of plain text,
audio, video. It is known as a Hypertext transfer protocol as it has the efficiency to
use in a hypertext environment where there are rapid jumps from one document to
another.
o SNMP: SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a framework
used for managing the devices on the internet by using the TCP/IP protocol suite.
o SMTP: SMTP stands for Simple mail transfer protocol. The TCP/IP protocol that
supports the e-mail is known as a Simple mail transfer protocol. This protocol is used
to send the data to another e-mail address.
o DNS: DNS stands for Domain Name System. An IP address is used to identify the
connection of a host to the internet uniquely. But, people prefer to use the names
instead of addresses. Therefore, the system that maps the name to the address is
known as Domain Name System.
o TELNET: It is an abbreviation for Terminal Network. It establishes the connection
between the local computer and remote computer in such a way that the local terminal
appears to be a terminal at the remote system.
o FTP: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is a standard internet protocol used
for transmitting the files from one computer to another computer.

Classification Of Transmission Media:

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lassful Addressing

An IP address is 32-bit long. An IP address is divided into sub-classes:

o Class A
o Class B
o Class C
o Class D
o Class E

An ip address is divided into two parts:

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 o Network ID: It represents the number of networks.
o Host ID: It represents the number of hosts.

In Class A, the first bit in higher order bits of the first octet is always set to 0 and the
remaining 7 bits determine the network ID. The 24 bits determine the host ID in any network.

The total number of networks in Class A = 27 = 128 network address

The total number of hosts in Class A = 224 - 2 = 16,777,214 host address

Class B

In Class B, an IP address is assigned to those networks that range from small-sized to large-
sized networks.

o The Network ID is 16 bits long.

o The Host ID is 16 bits long.

In Class B, the higher order bits of the first octet is always set to 10, and the remaining14 bits
determine the network ID. The other 16 bits determine the Host ID.

The total number of networks in Class B = 214 = 16384 network address

The total number of hosts in Class B = 216 - 2 = 65534 host address

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Class C

In Class C, an IP address is assigned to only small-sized networks.

o The Network ID is 24 bits long.

o The host ID is 8 bits long.

In Class C, the higher order bits of the first octet is always set to 110, and the remaining 21
bits determine the network ID. The 8 bits of the host ID determine the host in a network.

The total number of networks = 221 = 2097152 network address

The total number of hosts = 28 - 2 = 254 host address

Class D

In Class D, an IP address is reserved for multicast addresses. It does not possess subnetting.
The higher order bits of the first octet is always set to 1110, and the remaining bits
determines the host ID in any network.

Class E

In Class E, an IP address is used for the future use or for the research and development
purposes. It does not possess any subnetting. The higher order bits of the first octet is always
set to 1111, and the remaining bits determines the host ID in any network.

Classful Network Architecture

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Clas Higher NET ID HOST ID No.of No.of hosts per Range
s bits bits bits networks network

A 0 8 24 27 224 0.0.0.0 to
127.255.255.255

B 10 16 16 214 216 128.0.0.0 to

191.255.255.255

C 110 24 8 221 28 192.0.0.0 to

223.255.255.255

D 1110 Not Not Defined Not Defined Not Defined 224.0.0.0 to

Defined 239.255.255.255

E 1111 Not Not Defined Not Defined Not Defined 240.0.0.0 to

Defined 255.255.255.255

What is IP?

Here, IP stands for internet protocol. It is a protocol defined in the TCP/IP model used for
sending the packets from source to destination. The main task of IP is to deliver the packets
from source to the destination based on the IP addresses available in the packet headers. IP
defines the packet structure that hides the data which is to be delivered as well as the
addressing method that labels the datagram with a source and destination information.

An IP protocol provides the connectionless service, which is accompanied by two transport

protocols, i.e., TCP/IP and UDP/IP, so internet protocol is also known as TCP/IP or UDP/IP.

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 o Source IP address: The source is the one who is sending the data.
o Destination IP address: The destination is a host that receives the data from the
sender.
o Header length
o Packet length
o TTL (Time to Live): The number of hops occurs before the packet gets discarded.
o Transport protocol: The transport protocol used by the internet protocol, either it can
be TCP or UDP.

Internet Protocol is connectionless and unreliable protocol. It ensures no guarantee of

successfully transmission of data.

In order to make it reliable, it must be paired with reliable protocol such as TCP at the
transport layer.

Internet protocol transmits the data in form of a datagram as shown in the following diagram:

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User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Like IP, UDP is connectionless and unreliable protocol. It doesn’t require making a
connection with the host to exchange data. Since UDP is unreliable protocol, there is no
mechanism for ensuring that data sent is received.

UDP transmits the data in form of a datagram. The UDP datagram consists of five parts as
shown in the following diagram:

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is used to copy files from one host to another. FTP offers the mechanism for the same in
following manner:

 FTP creates two processes such as Control Process and Data Transfer Process at both
ends i.e. at client as well as at server.
 FTP establishes two different connections: one is for data transfer and other is for
control information.

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  Control connection is made between control processes while Data Connection is
made between<="" b="" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;
font: inherit;">
 FTP uses port 21 for the control connection and Port 20 for the data connection.

SUBNET MASK

Every computer device has two pieces of IP address: the host or client address and
the network or server address. Either the IP addresses are configured manually, which is the
static IP address, or by a DHCP server. The IP addresses are split into the network address
and the host by the subnet mask. It depends on which part of the IP address belongs to the
device and which part belongs to the network.

Gateway or default gateway creates a connection between the local device to the
other network. According to that, when a local device wants to send information to the device
with an IP address on other networks, then it will first send the packets to the gateway, and
after that, it forwards the data to the destination, which is located outside the local network.

What is a subnet mask?

A subnet mask is a 32-bit number created by setting the host bits to all 0s and setting network
bits to all 1s. In this way, the subnet mask is separated the IP address into the host
address and network address. The broadcast address is always assigned to
the "255" address, and a network address is always assigned to the "0" address. Since the
subnet mask is reserved for a special purpose, it cannot be assigned to the host.

An underlying structure is comprised of the subnet mask, IP address, and gateway or router.
When a system needs additional subnetting, then the host element of the IP address to divided
by subnetting, and it further divides into the subnet. The subnetting process is the main goal
of the subnet mask.

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The subnet mask and IP address:

A single device of an IP network is identified by a 32-bit IP address. The binary bits of that
32-bit IP address are divided into a network section and a host by the subnet mask. They are
also broken into four 8-bit octets.

Since the binary is challenging, we convert each update which is expressed in dot decimal.

For IP address, it is converted to the characteristics dotted decimal format.

Subnet masks and IP address classes:

Since all sides of networks can be accommodated on the internet, then based on how the octet
in an IP address is broken down, an addressing scheme for a range of networks exists. We
can calculate it upon the three high-order or leftmost weights of any described IP address.
This IP address should have different classes of the network, a to e, the addresses in it.

From the above five different classes of the network, the d class network is reserved for
multicasting; on the other hand, the class network is not used on the internet. It is because
the internet engineering task force (IETF) they are out for research.

The network portion in the first octet is reflected by the class a subnet mask, and it leaves
opted, three and four for the network manager for the purpose of dividing the hosts and
subnets as required. 65,536 hosts are included in the class a network.

The class b subnet mask makes sure the first two actors further network without the
remaining part of the address, and the 16-bit after it is four and three for the host and subnet
part. A number from 256 to 65,534 hosts for the class b network.

On the other hand, in the class c subnet mask, there are three updates with a combination of
hosts and the southerners in the last octet 4 8 bits. Lower than 254 hosts in class c, there are a
smaller number of networks.

Rather than there are natural masks or default subnet masks of class a, b &c.

Class a: 255.0.0.0

Class b: 255.255.0.0

Class c: 255.255.255.0

Class a IP address begins with 1 to 127.

lass b IP address begins with 128 to 191.

Class c IP address begins with 192 to 223.

Binary classifications of these IP addresses:

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Class a: network part is 8-bit -

11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000

Class b: network part is 16-bit -

11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000

Class c: network part is 24-bit -

11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000

To calculate the subnet mask, convert an IP address to binary, perform the calculation and
then convert back to the IPv4 decimal number representation known as a dotted quad. The
same subnetting procedure works for IPv6 addresses.

 A subnet mask tells the computer what part of the IP address is the network
portion of the address and what part identifies the host address range, which are
addresses that are assigned to host computers on that network. A longer subnet
mask -- meaning more 1 bits in the mask -- creates more IP subnets that have a
smaller host address block size.

 Subnetting breaks a large network into smaller networks by extending the length
of the subnet mask. This increases the number of subnetworks, while reducing the
number of hosts per subnet. Organizations will typically use several different
subnet masks for different sizes of networks. For example, a point-to-point link
with only two devices would use a 31-bit mask. An office LAN or data center
LAN, however, would use a shorter subnet mask that allows more hosts.

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