Understand SubnettingSubnetting allows you to create multiple logical networks that exist within a single Class A, B, or C network. If you do not subnet, you are only able to use one network from your Class A, B, or C network, which is unrealistic.Each data link on a network must have a unique network ID, with every node on that link being a member of the same network. If you break a major network (Class A, B, or C) into smaller subnetworks, it allows you to create a network of interconnecting subnetworks. Each data link on this network would then have a unique network/subnetwork ID. Any device, or gateway, that connects n networks/subnetworks has n distinct IP addresses, one for each network / subnetwork that it interconnects.In order to subnet a network, extend the natural mask with some of the bits from the host ID portion of the address in order to create a subnetwork ID. For example, given a Class C network of 204.17.5.0 which has a natural mask of 255.255.255.0, you can create subnets in this manner:204.17.5.0 - 11001100.00010001.00000101.00000000 255.255.255.224 - 11111111.11111111.11111111.11100000 --------------------------|sub|----By extending the mask to be 255.255.255.224, you have taken three bits (indicated by 'sub') from the original host portion of the address and used them to make subnets. With these three bits, it is possible to create eight subnets. With the remaining five host ID bits, each subnet can have up to 32 host addresses, 30 of which can actually be assigned to a device since host ids of all zeros or all ones are not allowed (it is very important to remember this). So, with this in mind, these subnets have been created.204.17.5.0 255.255.255.224 host address range 1 to 30 204.17.5.32 255.255.255.224 host address range 33 to 62 204.17.5.64 255.255.255.224 host address range 65 to 94 204.17.5.96 255.255.255.224 host address range 97 to 126 204.17.5.128 255.255.255.224 host address range 129 to 158 204.17.5.160 255.255.255.224 host address range 161 to 190 204.17.5.192 255.255.255.224 host address range 193 to 222 204.17.5.224 255.255.255.224 host address range 225 to 254