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Introduction to
Classless Routing
CCNA 3/Module 1
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Overview: Classful/Classless Routing
Classful routing - a network must use the same subnet mask
for the entire network
Network IP 192.168.187.0
Network Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Classless routing using more than one subnet mask for a
network address
subnetting a subnet
Network IP 192.168.187.0
Network Subnet Masks 255.255.255.252
255.255.255.0
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Overview: (Classful) IPv4 Addressing Limits
IPv4 20 years old
IPv4 even with subnetting, couldnt handle the global demand
for Internet connectivity

Class B space was on the verge of depletion.

Rapid and substantial increase in the size of the Internet's
routing tables.
As more Class C's came online, the flood of new network
information threatened Internet routers' capability to
cope.


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Overview: (Classful) IPv4 Addressing Limits
Provides IP scheme with limitations:
Class A 126 networks: 16,777,214 hosts each
Class B 65,000 networks: 65,534 hosts each
Class C 2 million networks: 254 hosts each
While available addresses were running out, only 3%
of assigned addresses were
actually being used!
Subnet zero, broadcast addresses,
pool of unused addresses at
Class A and B sites, etc.
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Overview: Scalability & Routing Tables
Maximum theoretical routing table size is 60,000 entries.
Classful addressing would have hit this capacity by
mid-1994.
Internet growth would have ended.
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1.1.1 What is VLSM and why is it used?
The purpose of VLSM is to alleviate the shortage of IP addresses

VLSM allows:
More than one subnet mask within the same NW
Or . . . Multiple SNMasks with ONE IP Address
Use of long mask on networks with few hosts
Use of short mask on networks with many hosts

In order to use VLSM, the routing protocol must support it.
Cisco routers with the following routing protocols support VLSM:
OSPF (Open Shortest Path First)
IS-IS (Integrated Intermediate System to Intermediate System)
EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol)
RIP v2
Static Routing

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1.1.1 What is VLSM and why is it used?
Classful routing protocols use one subnet mask for a single network
Ex: 192.168.187.0, must use subnet mask 255.255.255.0

VLSM allows a single autonomous system to have networks with
different subnet masks, for example:
Use a 30-bit subnet mask on network connections
(255.255.255.252)
Use a 24-bit subnet mask for user networks up to 250 users
(255.255.255.0)
Use a 22-bit subnet mask for user networks up to 1000 users
(255.255.252.0)
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1.1.2 A waste of space
In classless routing, it was recommended that first and last
subnet not be used
First (SN 0) had same address for the network and subnet
Last subnet (all-1s) was the broadcast

Always could have been used, was not recommended
practice
Address depletion has lead to use of these subnets
Now acceptable practice to use the first and last subnets in
conjunction with VLSM

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1.1.2 A waste of space
Network Address 192.168.187.0
Borrow 3 bits = SNM 255.255.255.224
Subnets = 0, 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224
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1.1.2 A waste of space
If subnet zero is used, there are 8 useable subnets
Each subnet can support 30 hosts
Cisco routers use subnet zero by default IOS v. 12.0+

If no ip subnet-zero command is used on the router, there are 7
useable subnets with 30 hosts per subnet
If supporting 4 routers (1 subnet each) that need 3 WAN
links to each other, all subnets are used
No room for growth
Waste of 28 host addresses for each WAN (point-to-
point) links or 1/3 of potential address space
Network Address 192.168.187.0
Borrow 3 bits = SNM 255.255.255.224
Subnets = 0, 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224
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1.1.2 A waste of space
FOSTER(config)#no ip subnet-zero

Disables the capability to use subnets that
include the network address of the
unsubnetted network

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1.1.3 When to use VLSM
Design addressing scheme that
allows:
Growth
Doesnt waste addresses on
point-to-point links
VLSM addressing applied instead results in:
Variable sized subnets
Take 1 of the 3 subnets and subnet it again
Example 192.168.187.224 (last subnet)
Apply a 30 bit mask (225.225.225.252)
Creates a possible 8 ranges of addresses with 30 bits
Best solution for point-to-point links use 2 host addresses
instead of 30

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1.1.4 Calculating subnets with VLSM
VLSM helps to manage IP addresses
VLSM can use one SNM for a point-to-point link and
one SNM for a LAN
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1.1.4 Calculating subnets with VLSM
osters abulous ilms
2 routers
1 in Hollywood (100 hosts)
1 in Ravenna (50 hosts)
1 WAN link (2 needed)
IP/NW Address: 192.16.10.0
Class C
Use the BIGGEST first:
100
50
2

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1.1.4 Calculating subnets with VLSM
osters abulous ilms
2 routers
1 in Hollywood (100 hosts)
1 in Ravenna (50 hosts)
1 WAN link (2 needed)
IP/NW Address: 192.16.10.0
Class C
Use the BIGGEST first:
100 /25
50 /26
2 /30

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1.1.4 Calculating subnets with VLSM
If VLSM were used instead of classful routing:
A 24-bit mask could be used for LAN segments for 250
hosts
A 30-bit mask could be used for WAN segments for 2
hosts
172.16.32.0/20 (would accommodate 4094 hosts)
Binary = 10101100.00010000.00100000.00000000
SNM = 11111111.11111111.11110000.00000000
VLSM address172.16.32.0/26 (needed for 62 hosts)
Binary = 10101100.00010000.00100000.00000000
SNM = 11111111.11111111.11111111.11000000
If 172.16.32.0/20 used, but only 10 hosts on segment, would
provide 4094 hosts and waste 4084 addresses
By further subnetting /20 to /26, gain 64 subnets (2
6
) each
supporting 62 hosts
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1.1.4 Calculating Subnets w/VLSM
Procedure to subnet a subnet /20 to /26 using VLSM:
1. Write 172.16.32.0 in binary form
Binary = 10101100.00010000.00100000.00000000
2. Draw a vertical line between the 20
th
and 21
st
bits (the original
subnet boundary)
3. Draw a vertical line between the 26
th
and 27
th
bits extending the bits
to segment/host needs
4. Calculate the number of subnet addresses between the two vertical
lines (lowest to highest) in value
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1.1.4 Calculating Subnets w/VLSM
Keep in mind that only unused subnets can be further
subnetted
If any address for a subnet is used cannot be further
subnetted
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1.1.5 Route Aggregation w/VLSM
Every network needs a separate entry in routing table
Each subnet needs a separate entry
Aggregation will reduce routing table size
When using VLSM keep subnetwork numbers grouped together
in the network to allow for aggregation by using Classless
InterDomain Routing (CIDR)
172.16.14.0
172.16.15.0
Router needs to carry only one route 172.16.14.0/23
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1.1.5 Route Aggregation w/VLSM
Using CIDR and VLSM prevents address waste and promotes route
aggregation or summarization
Without summarization, Internet would collapse
Summarization reduces burden on upstream routers
This process of summarization continues until entire network is
advertised as a single aggregate route
Summarization is also called supernetting
Possible if the routers of a network run a classless routing
protocol such as OSPF or EIGRP
Consists of IP address and bit mask in routing updates
The summary route uses prefix common to all addresses of
organization
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1.1.5 Route Aggregation w/VLSM

Carefully assign addresses in a hierarchical fashion to share same
high-order bits for summarization
A router must know subnets attached in detail
A router does not need to tell other routers about subnets
A router using aggregate routes has fewer entries in routing
table
VLSM allows for summarization of routes
Works even if networks are not contiguous
VLSM increases flexibly by summarization on higher-order bits
Used to calculate the network number of the summary route
Uses only shared highest-order bits
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1.1.6 Configuring VLSM

If VLSM is chosen, it must be configured correctly
Example: 192.168.10.0
One router has to support 60 hosts, needs 6 bits in host
portion of address to provide 62 possible address
(2
6
= 64 2 = 60)
192.168.10.0/26 (leaves 6 bits for hosts)
One router has to support 28 hosts, needs 5 bits in host
portion of address to provide 30 possible hosts
(2
5
= 32 2 = 30) 192.168.10.64/27 (leaves 5 bits for hosts)
Two routers have to support 12 hosts each, needs 4 bits in
host portion of address to provide 14 possible hosts
(2
4
= 16 2 = 14) 192.168.10.96/28 (leaves 4 bits for hosts)
192.168.10.112/28 (leaves 4 bits for hosts)
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1.1.6 Configuring VLSM

Point-to-point connections are:
192.168.10.128/30 (2 address required, 2 bits = 2 host addresses)
192.168.10.132/30 (2 address required, 2 bits = 2 host addresses)
192.168.10.136/30 (2 address required, 2 bits = 2 host addresses)
Choices = .136 .137 .138 .139

Configuration as follows for the 192.168.10.136/30 network (.136/30 -
network address;.139/30 - broadcast address; .137/30 and 138/30 host
addresses:
(config)#interface serial 0
(config-if)#ip address 192.168.10.137 255.255.255.252

(config)#interface serial1
(config-if)#ip address 192.168.10.138 255.255.255.252
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1.2.1 RIP History
Internet is a collection of autonomous systems (AS)
Each AS is administered by a single entity
Each AS has its own routing technology

Routing protocol used within AS is Interior Gateway Protocol
Routing protocol used between Autonomous Systems is an Exterior Gateway
Protocol

RIP v1:
is an IGP that is classful
was designed to work within moderate-sized AS
is a distance vector routing protocol
by default, broadcasts entire routing table every 30 seconds
uses hop count as metric (16 max)
is capable of load balancing 6 equal-cost paths (4 default)
Does not send subnet mask information in its updates
Is not able to support VLSM or CIDR


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1.2.1 RIP History
If the router receives information about a network, and the receiving
interface belongs to same network but is on a different subnet, the
router applies the one subnet mask configured on the receiving
interface

Class A default classful mask is 255.0.0.0
Class B default classful mask is 255.255.0.0
Class C default classful mask is 255.255.255.0
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1.2.2 RIP v2 Features
RIP v2 is an Improved version of RIP v1 with following features:
Distance vector protocol
Uses hop count as metric
Uses hold-down timers (prevent routing loops), default 180 sec.
Uses split horizon to prevent routing loops
Uses 16 hops as infinite distance
Provides prefix routing (sends subnet mask with route update)
Supports use of classless routing (VLSM)
Multicasts updates using 224.0.0.9 address for better efficiency
Provides authentication in updates
Clear text - default
MD5 encryption typically used to encrypt enable secret
passwords (Message-Digest 5)
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1.2.3 Comparing RIP v1 & v2
RIP v1 RIP v2
Easy to configure Easy to configure
Supports classful routing Supports classless routing
No subnet info sent with routing
updates (considered a limitation of v1)
Sends subnet mask with routing
update
No authentication Provides for authentication
Uses hop count Uses hop count
16 hops as metric for infinite distance 16 hops as metric for infinite distance
Broadcasts routing table updates
255.255.255.255
Multicasts updates 224.0.0.9
Does not support prefix routing (all
devices in same network must use
same subnet mask)
Supports prefix routing (VLSM,
different subnet masks can be used
in same network)
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1.2.4 Configuring RIP v2
To enable a dynamic routing protocol:
1. Select routing protocol
FOSTER(config)#router rip
FOSTER(config-router)#version 2
2. Configure routing protocol with the network IP address (identify
physically connected network that will receive routing tables)
FOSTER(config-router)#network 10.0.0.0
FOSTER(config-router)#network 172.16.0.0
3. Assign IP/SNM to interfaces
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1.2.5 Verifying RIP v2
FOSTER#show ip protocols
Shows protocol name
Tells when updates are sent and
when the next is due
FOSTER#show ip route
Tells if routers have learned about
a newly added network
Displays IP routing table
FOSTER#show ip interface brief
Summary of information
status of interface
FOSTER#show running-config

Checks for a misconfigured routing
protocol
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1.2.5 Verifying RIP v2
RIP updates table every 30 seconds
If no update received in 180 seconds, route marked as down
If no update after 240 seconds, removes from routing table entry
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1.2.6 Troubleshooting RIP v2
Foster#debug ip rip
Displays RIP routing updates as
they are sent and received
Foster#no debug all
Foster#undebug all
Turns off all debugging
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1.2.7 Default Routes
Three ways a router learns about paths:

1. Static routes manual configuration of routes (next hop)
Uses ip route command

2. Default routes manually defined path to take when there is no
known route to a destination

3. Dynamic routes routers lean paths by receiving updates from
other routers
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1.2.7 Default Routes
Default Route Command:
FOSTER(config)# ip route 172.16.1.0 255.255.255.0
172.16.2.1
Default NW Tells that 8 bits of
subnetting in effect
Next hop router
Default Route Command:
FOSTER(config)# ip route 172.16.1.0 255.255.255.0
172.16.2.1
Default NW Tells that 8 bits of
subnetting in effect
Next hop router
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1.2.7 Default Routes
Used to:
1. Give packets that are not IDd in the routing table a place to go
Usually a router that connects to the Internet
2. Connect a router with a static default route

DYNAMIC PROTOCOL Default Route Command
FOSTER(config)# ip default-network 192.168.20.0
Default NW