The IP Subnet Calculator is a tool primarily used by people working in the IT and networking fields. Due to its name, its purpose is pretty self-explanatory. The purpose of this tool is to calculate the subnets. Basically, you enter an IP address range or CIDR notation, and the IP Subnet Calculator generates a list of subnets.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of subnetting, then take into account that this is the process of dividing your network into smaller segments. Generally, subnets are referred to as “Sub Net”, which can also be thought of as partitions in a network.
But what is the purpose of subnetting our network? In order to understand why anyone would want to subnet their network, let us first consider some of the reasons.
Why Do You Need Subnetting?
There are a number of reasons why your network should be subnetted. A major reason for the introduction of subnetting was to limit the allocation of millions of IPv4 addresses to an organization that might not be able to use all of the addresses.
In the past, unused IP addresses were a waste of resources and served no purpose whatsoever. This was the primary reason for the introduction of subnetting. However, there are many other reasons as well.
Increase Security
Subnetting is also a good idea from a security perspective. By separating the network and assigning IP addresses in an organized manner, you will have greater control over who has access to which information.
For example, you can control the access of each department by creating different subnets. It is possible to restrict access to information pertaining to finance or sales to other departments.
Organization
When you partition your private network, it is quite easy to organize your network. For each department, you can divide your network into subnets. As a result, a certain range of addresses will be assigned to a certain department, and so forth.
The benefit of this is that it facilitates the organization and management of the network as well. When you are an IT professional, you are able to identify which department is experiencing problems simply by examining the IP addresses. It is also possible to divide a network by buildings or floors.
For example, you can assign an address range for each building in a subnet. By doing this, you will be able to determine which building is experiencing problems more easily. Additionally, you can divide the network according to floors.
Increasing IP Addresses
It is commonly known as supernetting, but there are some similarities to subnetting as well. Subnetting can also allow you to add more IP addresses to your network.
By doing so, you are able to extend the range of IP addresses within a given geographical area. For instance, if all the IP addresses in a subnet are used, you can always extend the range by adding another subnet mask.
In addition, if there are a large number of IP addresses available in a subnet, and they are not being utilized, then you can change the subnet mask to increase the size of the subnet.
By doing so, you will be able to use the free IP addresses in another subnet and release the addresses that are currently unused.
What Does the Subnet Calculator Do?
Now that you have a better understanding of why subnetting is necessary, it is time to take a look at the Subnet Calculator. You can use the Subnet Calculator to generate a list of subnets based on a set of IP addresses (or CIDR Notations). With the help of this calculator, it is possible to divide your network into subnets more easily.
No calculations or divisions will be necessary, nor will you need to convert decimal numbers to binary numbers. For someone who is regularly involved with subnets, this tool is handy.
There are a number of options available to help you customize the list of subnets. For your network, you can customize the size of the subnets, as well as the maximum number of subnets you wish to create. Additionally, you have the option of customizing the size of each subnet (since each subnet requires a different size).
In order to use the IP subnet calculator, you simply need to enter the IP address; the tool will automatically generate the Netmask, CIDR, Block Size, First IP, Last Ip, Block Cast and many more related information.
Conclusion
At the end we can say that the people who work in the IT and networking fields use the IP Subnet Calculator primarily. Using this tool, you will be able to calculate the subnets for the network you are connected to.
There will be no need to perform any calculations or divisions, nor will you have to convert decimal numbers into binary ones.
