CSC521 Communication Protocols

Ch.9 Classless And

Subnet Address Extensions (CIDR)

Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Introduction
Review Of Relevant Facts
Minimizing Network Numbers
Proxy ARP
Subnet Addressing
Flexibility In Subnet Address
Assignment
Variable-Length Subnets
Implementation Of Subnets With
Masks
Subnet Mask Representation
Forwarding In The Presence Of
Subnets
The Subnet Forwarding Algorithm
A Unified Forwarding Algorithm
Maintenance Of Subnet Masks

14. Broadcasting To Subnets

15. Anonymous Point-To-Point
Networks
16. Classless Addressing And
Supernetting
17. CIDR Address Blocks And Bit
Masks
18. Address Blocks And CIDR Notation
19. A Classless Addressing Example
20. Data Structures And Algorithms For
Classless Lookup
21. Longest-Match And Mixtures Of
Route Types
22. CIDR Blocks Reserved For Private
Networks
23. Summary

Recall: Classful Addressing

In the original IP addressing scheme:
network prefix + host suffix
each physical network is assigned a unique network address
each host on a network has the network address as a prefix of the host's
individual address
Routers only examine prefix (small routing tables)

Network-prefix Minimization Problem

Question: How can we minimize the number of assigned
network prefixes (especially class B) without abandoning the
32-bit addressing scheme?
Two Answers:
Proxy ARP
Subnet addressing

Proxy ARP: Layer-2 Solution

Arrange special system to answer ARP requests and forward

datagrams between networks
Hosts think they are on same network
Allow two physical networks to share a single IP prefix
Known informally as the ARP hack

Assessments
Chief advantages
Transparent to hosts
No change in IP routing tables

Chief disadvantages
Does not generalize to complex topology
Only works on networks that use ARP
Most proxy ARP systems require manual configuration

Subnet Addressing
Subdivides the host suffix into a pair of fields for physical
network and host
Allows an organization to use a single network prefix for multiple physical
networks
Interpreted only by routers and hosts at the site; treated like normal
address elsewhere

Both physical networks share prefix 128.10

Router R uses third octet of address to choose physical net
Address Mask: Each physical network is assigned 32-bit address mask (also called
subnet mask)

Use of Address Masks

Each entry in routing table also has address mask

All-1s mask used for host-specific routes

Network mask used for network-specific routes
Subnet mask used for subnet-specific routes
All-0s mask used for default route

Active Routes:
Network Destination
Netmask
Gateway
0.0.0.0
0.0.0.0
192.168.0.1
127.0.0.0
255.0.0.0
127.0.0.1
192.168.0.158 255.255.255.255
127.0.0.1
192.168.0.0
255.255.255.0 192.168.0.158
192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 192.168.0.158

Interface Metric
192.168.0.158
20 (Default)
127.0.0.1
1 (Loopback)
127.0.0.1
20 (Local)
192.168.0.158
20 (LAN)
192.168.0.158
20 (Broadcast)

Network Addressing Problems

Problems
Continued exponential Internet growth
Dire prediction (1993): We will exhaust the address space ''in a few years''.
Note: address space is not near exhaustion

Subnetting insufficient
Limited IP addresses (esp. Class B)

Further Motivation For CIDR: aggregating class C

Limitation of classful addressing
Fewer than seventeen thousand Class B numbers (total 214)
More than two million Class C network numbers (221)

Flexibility of CIDR
Merging 256 Class C numbers into a single prefix that is equivalent to Class B
Splitting a Class B along power of two boundaries

Solution to problem
Temporary fix until next generation of IP
Backward compatible with classful addressing
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Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR)

CIDR Idea:
permit arbitrary-length network prefixes

CIDR Techniques:
Extended Addressing: subnet + supernet
blocks of address numbers

Forwarding (longest-prefix matching)

Route propagation (condensation)

CIDR was predicted to work ''for a few years''

Extremely successful!
Will work for at least 25 years!

Supernetting
Supernetting: assigning a block of contiguous class C
numbers
Route Proliferation
Example: a block of 256 contiguous class C numbers (equal
to a class B)
supernetting: single CIDR prefix spans 256 Class C network numbers
Classful routing table requires 256 separate entries for each class C

If classful forwarding used, CIDR addresses result in more

routes

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CIDR Block and Slash Notation

128.211.168.0/21

Network Addresses written NUMBER / m

NUMBER is IP prefix; m is ''address mask'' length
Example
214.5.48.0 / 20
Prefix occupies 20 bits
Suffix occupies 12 bits

Mask values must be converted to dotted decimal when configuring a

router (and binary internally)

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Dotted
Decimal
Equivalents

Example of / 30 block: 128.211.176.212/30

useful when customer of ISP has very small network

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CIDR Forwarding
Implementation Of CIDR Route Lookup
Each entry in routing table has address plus mask
Search is organized from most-specific to least-specific (i.e., entry with
longest mask is tested first)
Known as longest-prefix lookup or longest-prefix search

Implementing Longest-Prefix Matching

Cannot easily use hashing
Data structure of choice is binary trie
Identifies unique prefix needed to match route

Example of Unique Prefixes

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Route Propagation
Route Exchange: route per CIDR block
Store address mask with each route
Send pair of (address, mask) whenever exchanging routing information

Route Condensation (Aggregation)

Multiple subnets of common prefixes are aggregated into a larger subnet
Examples: 140.127.208.0/24
Dept. Office
Prof's Offices
Computer Room
4F (Labs)

140.127.208.0
140.127.208.40
140.127.208.64
140.127.208.128

- 140.127.208.39
- 140.127.208.63
- 140.127.208.127
- 140.127.208.255

How to divide 140.127.208.0/24 into two subnets of equal size?

Ans. 140.127.208.0/25 and 140.127.208.128/25

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Summary
Two extensions to original classful IP addressing scheme
Subnet addressing
CIDR addressing

Both use 32-bit address mask

Subnetting used only within a site CIDR used
CIDR mask identifies division between network prefix and host suffix
Subnet mask identifies boundary between subnet and individual host

CIDR Techniques
Extended Addressing: subnet + supernet
blocks of address numbers

Forwarding (longest-prefix matching)

Route propagation (condensation)
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