Contents

Configuring IPv4 Addresses

This chapter contains information about, and instructions for configuring IPv4 addresses on interfaces that are part of a networking device.


Note


All further references to IPv4 addresses in this document use only IP in the text, not IPv4.


Finding Feature Information

Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/​go/​cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

Information About IP Addresses

Binary Numbering

IP addresses are 32 bits long. The 32 bits are divided into four octets (8-bits). A basic understanding of binary numbering is very helpful if you are going to manage IP addresses in a network because changes in the values of the 32 bits indicate either a different IP network address or IP host address.

A value in binary is represented by the number (0 or 1) in each position multiplied by the number 2 to the power of the position of the number in sequence, starting with 0 and increasing to 7, working right to left. The figure below is an example of an 8-digit binary number.

Figure 1. Example of an 8-digit Binary Number

The figure below provides binary to decimal number conversion for 0 through 134.

Figure 2. Binary to Decimal Number Conversion for 0 to 134

The figure below provides binary to decimal number conversion for 135 through 255.

Figure 3. Binary to Decimal Number Conversion for 135 to 255

IP Address Structure

An IP host address identifies a device to which IP packets can be sent. An IP network address identifies a specific network segment to which one or more hosts can be connected. The following are characteristics of IP addresses:

  • IP addresses are 32 bits long

  • IP addresses are divided into four sections of one byte (octet) each

  • IP addresses are typically written in a format known as dotted decimal

The table below shows some examples of IP addresses.

Table 1 Examples of IP Addresses

IP Addresses in Dotted Decimal

IP Addresses in Binary

10.34.216.75

00001010.00100010.11011000.01001011

172.16.89.34

10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010

192.168.100.4

11000000.10101000.01100100.00000100


Note


The IP addresses in the table above are from RFC 1918, Address Allocation for Private Internets . These IP addresses are not routable on the Internet. They are intended for use in private networks. For more information on RFC1918, see http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1918.txt .


IP addresses are further subdivided into two sections known as network and host. The division is accomplished by arbitrarily ranges of IP addresses to classes. For more information see RFC 791 Internet Protocol at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc0791.txt .

IP Address Classes

In order to provide some structure to the way IP addresses are assigned, IP addresses are grouped into classes. Each class has a range of IP addresses. The range of IP addresses in each class is determined by the number of bits allocated to the network section of the 32-bit IP address. The number of bits allocated to the network section is represented by a mask written in dotted decimal or with the abbreviation /n where n = the numbers of bits in the mask.

The table below lists ranges of IP addresses by class and the masks associated with each class. The digits in bold indicate the network section of the IP address for each class. The remaining digits are available for host IP addresses. For example, IP address 10.90.45.1 with a mask of 255.0.0.0 is broken down into a network IP address of 10.0.0.0 and a host IP address of 0.90.45.1.

Table 2 IP Address Ranges by Class with Masks

Class

Range

A (range/mask in dotted decimal)

0 .0.0.0 to 127.0.0.0/8 (255.0.0.0)

A (range in binary)

00000000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to01111111.00000000.00000000.00000000

A (mask in binary)

11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000/8

B (range/mask in dotted decimal)

128 .0.0.0 to 191.255.0.0/16 (255.255.0.0)

B (range in binary)

10000000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to10111111.11111111.00000000.00000000

B (mask in binary)

11111111 .11111111.00000000.00000000/16

C (range/mask in dotted decimal)

192 .0.0.0 to 223.255.255.0/24 (255.255.255.0)

C (range in binary)

11000000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to11011111.11111111.11111111.00000000

C (mask in binary)

11111111.11111111.11111111.0000000/24

D1 (range/mask in dotted decimal)

224 .0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255/32 (255.255.255.255)

D (range in binary)

11100000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to11101111.11111111.11111111.11111111

D (mask in binary)

11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111/32

E2 (range/mask in dotted decimal)

240 .0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255/32 (255.255.255.255)

E (range in binary)

11110000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111

E (mask in binary)

11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111/32

1 Class D IP addresses are reserved for multicast applications.
2 Class E IP addresses are reserved for broadcast traffic.

Note


Some IP addresses in these ranges are reserved for special uses. For more information refer to RFC 3330, Special-Use IP Addresses , at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc3330.txt .


When a digit that falls within the network mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the network address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/16 to 10101100.00110000.01011001.00100010/16 you have changed the network address from 172.16.89.34/16 to 172.48.89.34/16.

When a digit that falls outside the network mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the host address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/16 to 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100011/16 you have changed the host address from 172.16.89.34/16 to 172.16.89.35/16.

Each class of IP address supports a specific range of IP network addresses and IP host addresses. The range of IP network addresses available for each class is determined with the formula 2 to the power of the number of available bits. In the case of class A addresses, the value of the first bit in the 1st octet (as shown in the table above) is fixed at 0. This leaves 7 bits for creating additional network addresses. Therefore there are 128 IP network addresses available for class A (27 = 128).

The number of IP host addresses available for an IP address class is determined by the formula 2 to the power of the number of available bits minus 2. There are 24 bits available in a class A addresses for IP host addresses. Therefore there are 16,777,214 IP hosts addresses available for class A ((224) - 2 = 16,777,214)).


Note


The 2 is subtracted because there are 2 IP addresses that cannot be used for a host. The all 0’s host address cannot be used because it is the same as the network address. For example, 10.0.0.0 cannot be both a IP network address and an IP host address. The all 1’s address is a broadcast address that is used to reach all hosts on the network. For example, an IP datagram addressed to 10.255.255.255 will be accepted by every host on network 10.0.0.0.


The table below shows the network and host addresses available for each class of IP address.

Table 3 Network and Host Addresses Available for Each Class of IP Address

Class

Network Addresses

Host Addresses

A

128

16,777,214

B

16,3843

65534

C

2,097,1524

254

3 Only 14 bits are available for class B IP network addresses because the first 2 bits are fixed at 10 as shown in Table 2 .
4 Only 21 bits are available for class C IP network addresses because the first 3 bits are fixed at 110 as shown in Table 2 .

IP Network Subnetting

The arbitrary subdivision of network and host bits in IP address classes resulted in an inefficient allocation of IP space. For example, if your network has 16 separate physical segments you will need 16 IP network addresses. If you use 16 class B IP network addresses, you would be able to support 65,534 hosts on each of the physical segments. Your total number of supported host IP addresses is 1,048,544 (16 * 65,534 = 1,048,544). Very few network technologies can scale to having 65,534 hosts on a single network segment. Very few companies need 1,048,544 IP host addresses. This problem required the development of a new strategy that permitted the subdivision of IP network addresses into smaller groupings of IP subnetwork addresses. This strategy is known as subnetting.

If your network has 16 separate physical segments you will need 16 IP subnetwork addresses. This can be accomplished with one class B IP address. For example, start with the class B IP address of 172.16.0.0 you can reserve 4 bits from the third octet as subnet bits. This gives you 16 subnet IP addresses 24 = 16. The table below shows the IP subnets for 172.16.0.0/20.

Table 4 Examples of IP Subnet Addresses using 172.16.0.0/20

Number

IP Subnet Addresses in Dotted Decimal

IP Subnet Addresses in Binary

05

172.16.0.0

10101100.00010000.00000000.00000000

1

172.16.16.0

10101100.00010000.00010000.00000000

2

172.16.32.0

10101100.00010000.00100000.00000000

3

172.16.48.0

10101100.00010000.00110000.00000000

4

172.16.64.0

10101100.00010000.01000000.00000000

5

172.16.80.0

10101100.00010000.01010000.00000000

6

172.16.96.0

10101100.00010000.01100000.00000000

7

172.16.112.0

10101100.00010000.01110000.00000000

8

172.16.128.0

10101100.00010000.10000000.00000000

9

172.16.144.0

10101100.00010000.10010000.00000000

10

172.16.160.0

10101100.00010000.10100000.00000000

11

172.16.176.0

10101100.00010000.10110000.00000000

12

172.16.192.0

10101100.00010000.11000000.00000000

13

172.16.208.0

10101100.00010000.11010000.00000000

14

172.16.224.0

10101100.00010000.11100000.00000000

15

172.16.240.0

10101100.00010000.11110000.00000000

5 The first subnet that has all of the subnet bits set to 0 is referred to as subnet 0 . It is indistinguishable from the network address and must be used carefully.

When a digit that falls within the subnetwork (subnet) mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the subnetwork address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/20 to 10101100.00010000.01111001.00100010/20 you have changed the network address from 172.16.89.34/20 to 172.16.121.34/20.

When a digit that falls outside the subnet mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the host address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/20 to 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100011/20 you have changed the host address from 172.16.89.34/20 to 172.16.89.35/20.


Timesaver


To avoid having to do manual IP network, subnetwork, and host calculations, use one of the free IP subnet calculators available on the Internet.


Some people get confused about the terms network address and subnet or subnetwork addresses and when to use them. In the most general sense the term network address means “the IP address that routers use to route traffic to a specific network segment so that the intended destination IP host on that segment can receive it”. Therefore the term network address can apply to both non-subnetted and subnetted IP network addresses. When you are troubleshooting problems with forwarding traffic from a router to a specific IP network address that is actually a subnetted network address, it can help to be more specific by referring to the destination network address as a subnet network address because some routing protocols handle advertising subnet network routes differently from network routes. For example, the default behavior for RIP v2 is to automatically summarize the subnet network addresses that it is connected to their non-subnetted network addresses (172.16.32.0/24 is advertised by RIP v2 as 172.16.0.0/16) when sending routing updates to other routers. Therefore the other routers might have knowledge of the IP network addresses in the network, but not the subnetted network addresses of the IP network addresses.


Tip


The term IP address space is sometimes used to refer to a range of IP addresses. For example, “We have to allocate a new IP network address to our network because we have used all of the available IP addresses in the current IP address space”.


IP Network Address Assignments

Routers keep track of IP network addresses to understand the network IP topology (layer 3 of the OSI reference model) of the network to ensure that IP traffic can be routed properly. In order for the routers to understand the network layer (IP) topology, every individual physical network segment that is separated from any other physical network segment by a router must have a unique IP network address.

The figure below shows an example of a simple network with correctly configured IP network addresses. The routing table in R1 looks like the table below.

Table 5 Routing Table for a Correctly Configured Network

Interface Ethernet 0

Interface Ethernet 1

172.31.32.0/24 (Connected)

172.31.16.0/24 (Connected)

Figure 4. Correctly Configured Network

The figure below shows an example of a simple network with incorrectly configured IP network addresses. The routing table in R1 looks like the table below. If the PC with IP address 172.31.32.3 attempts to send IP traffic to the PC with IP address 172.31.32.54, router R1 cannot determine which interface that the PC with IP address 172.31.32.54 is connected to.

Table 6 Routing Table in Router R1 for an Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 1)

Ethernet 0

Ethernet 1

172.31.32.0/24 (Connected)

172.31.32.0/24 (Connected)

Figure 5. Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 1)

To help prevent mistakes as shown in the figure above, Cisco IOS-based networking devices will not allow you to configure the same IP network address on two or more interfaces in the router when IP routing is enabled.

The only way to prevent the mistake shown in the figure below, where 172.16.31.0/24 is used in R2 and R3, is to have very accurate network documentation that shows where you have assigned IP network addresses.

Table 7 Routing Table in Router R1 for an Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 2)

Ethernet 0

Serial 0

Serial 1

172.16.32.0/24 (Connected)

192.168.100.4/29 (Connected) 172.16.31.0/24 RIP

192.168.100.8/29 (Connected) 172.16.31.0/24 RIP

Figure 6. Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 2)

For a more thorough explanation of IP routing, see the "Related Documents" section for a list of documents related to IP routing.

Classless Inter-Domain Routing

Due to the continuing increase in internet use and the limitations on how IP addresses can be assigned using the class structure shown in the table above, a more flexible method for allocating IP addresses was required. The new method is documented in RFC 1519 Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR): an Address Assignment and Aggregation Strategy. CIDR allows network administrators to apply arbitrary masks to IP addresses to create an IP addressing plan that meets the requirements of the networks that they administrate.

For more information on CIDR, refer to RFC 1519 at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1519.txt.

Prefixes

The term prefix is often used to refer to the number of bits of an IP network address that are of importance for building routing tables. If you are using only classful (strict adherence to A, B, and C network address boundaries) IP addresses, the prefixes are the same as the masks for the classes of addresses. For example, using classful IP addressing, a class C IP network address such as 192.168.10.0 uses a 24-bit mask (/24 or 255.255.255.0) and can also be said to have a 24-bit prefix.

If you are using CIDR, the prefixes are arbitrarily assigned to IP network addresses based on how you want to populate the routing tables in your network. For example, a group of class C IP addresses such as 192.168.10.0, 192.168.11.0, 192.168.12.0, 192.168.13.0 can be advertised as a single route to 192.168.0.0 with a 16-bit prefix (192.168.0.0/16). This results in a 4:1 reduction in the number of routes that the routers in your network need to manage.

How to Configure IP Addresses

Establishing IP Connectivity to a Network by Assigning an IP Address to an Interface

Perform this task to configure an IP address on an interface.

SUMMARY STEPS

    1.    enable

    2.    configure terminal

    3.    interface type number

    4.    no shutdown

    5.    ip address ip-address mask

    6.    end


DETAILED STEPS
     Command or ActionPurpose
    Step 1 enable


    Example:
    Router> enable
     

    Enables privileged EXEC mode.

    • Enter your password if prompted.

     
    Step 2 configure terminal


    Example:
    Router# configure terminal
     

    Enters global configuration mode.

     
    Step 3 interface type number


    Example:
    Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
     

    Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

     
    Step 4 no shutdown


    Example:
    Router(config-if)# no shutdown
     

    Enables the interface.

     
    Step 5 ip address ip-address mask


    Example:
    Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
     

    Configures the IP address on the interface.

     
    Step 6 end


    Example:
    Router(config-if)# end
     

    Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

     

    Troubleshooting Tips

    The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

    • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

    • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

    Increasing the Number of IP Hosts that Are Supported on a Network by Using Secondary IP Addresses

    If you have a situation in which you need to connect more IP hosts to a network segment and you have used all of the available IP host addresses for the subnet to which you have assigned the segment, you can avoid having to readdress all of the hosts with a different subnet by adding a second IP network address to the network segment.

    Perform this task to configure a secondary IP address on an interface.

    SUMMARY STEPS

      1.    enable

      2.    configure terminal

      3.    interface type number

      4.    no shutdown

      5.    ip address ip-address mask

      6.    ip address ip-address mask secondary

      7.    end


    DETAILED STEPS
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1 enable


      Example:
      Router> enable
       

      Enables privileged EXEC mode.

      • Enter your password if prompted.

       
      Step 2 configure terminal


      Example:
      Router# configure terminal
       

      Enters global configuration mode.

       
      Step 3 interface type number


      Example:
      Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
       

      Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

       
      Step 4 no shutdown


      Example:
      Router(config-if)# no shutdown
       

      Enables the interface.

       
      Step 5 ip address ip-address mask


      Example:
      Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
       

      Configures the IP address on the interface.

       
      Step 6 ip address ip-address mask secondary


      Example:
      Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
       

      Configures the secondary IP address on the interface.

       
      Step 7 end


      Example:
      Router(config-if)# end
       

      Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

       

      Troubleshooting Tips

      The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

      • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

      • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

      What to Do Next

      If your network has two or more routers and you have already configured a routing protocol, make certain that the other routers can reach the new IP network that you assigned. You might need to modify the configuration for the routing protocol on the router so that it advertises the new network. Consult the Cisco IOS IP Routing: Protocol-Independent Configuration Guide for information on configuring routing protocols.

      Maximizing the Number of Available IP Subnets by Allowing the Use of IP Subnet Zero

      If you using subnetting in your network and you are running out of network addresses, you can configure your networking device to allow the configuration of subnet zero. This adds one more usable network address for every subnet in your IP addressing scheme. The table above shows the IP subnets (including subnet 0) for 172.16.0.0/20.

      Perform this task to enable the use of IP subnet zero on your networking device.

      SUMMARY STEPS

        1.    enable

        2.    configure terminal

        3.    ip subnet-zero

        4.    interface type number

        5.    no shutdown

        6.    ip address ip-address mask

        7.    end


      DETAILED STEPS
         Command or ActionPurpose
        Step 1 enable


        Example:
        Router> enable
         

        Enables privileged EXEC mode.

        • Enter your password if prompted.

         
        Step 2 configure terminal


        Example:
        Router# configure terminal
         

        Enters global configuration mode.

         
        Step 3 ip subnet-zero


        Example:
        Router(config)# ip subnet-zero
         

        Enables the use of IP subnet zero.

         
        Step 4 interface type number


        Example:
        Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
         

        Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

         
        Step 5 no shutdown


        Example:
        Router(config-if)# no shutdown
         

        Enables the interface.

         
        Step 6 ip address ip-address mask


        Example:
        Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.0.1 255.255.240.0
         

        Configures the subnet zero IP address on the interface.

         
        Step 7 end


        Example:
        Router(config-if)# end
         

        Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

         

        Troubleshooting Tips

        The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

        • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

        • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

        Specifying the Format of Network Masks

        By default, show commands display an IP address and then its netmask in dotted decimal notation. For example, a subnet would be displayed as 131.108.11.55 255.255.255.0.

        You might find it more convenient to display the network mask in hexadecimal format or bit count format instead. The hexadecimal format is commonly used on UNIX systems. The previous example would be displayed as 131.108.11.55 0XFFFFFF00.

        The bit count format for displaying network masks is to append a slash (/) and the total number of bits in the netmask to the address itself. The previous example would be displayed as 131.108.11.55/24.

        Specifying the Format in Which Netmasks Appear for the Current Session

        Perform this task to specify the format in which netmasks appear for the current session.

        SUMMARY STEPS

          1.    enable

          2.    term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}


        DETAILED STEPS
           Command or ActionPurpose
          Step 1 enable


          Example:
          Router> enable
           

          Enables privileged EXEC mode.

          • Enter your password if prompted.

           
          Step 2 term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}


          Example:
          Router# term ip netmask-format hexadecimal
           

          Specifies the format the router uses to display network masks.

           

          Specifying the Format in Which Netmasks Appear for an Individual Line

          Perform this task to specify the format in which netmasks appear for an individual line.

          SUMMARY STEPS

            1.    enable

            2.    configure terminal

            3.    line vty first last

            4.    term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}

            5.    end


          DETAILED STEPS
             Command or ActionPurpose
            Step 1 enable


            Example:
            Router> enable
             

            Enables privileged EXEC mode.

            • Enter your password if prompted.

             
            Step 2 configure terminal


            Example:
            Router# configure terminal
             

            Enters global configuration mode.

             
            Step 3 line vty first last


            Example:
            Router(config)# line vty 0 4
             

            Enters line configuration mode for the range of lines specified by the first and last arguments.

             
            Step 4 term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}


            Example:
            Router(config-line)# ip netmask-format hexadecimal
             

            Specifies the format the router uses to display the network mask for an individual line.

             
            Step 5 end


            Example:
            Router(config-if)# end
             

            Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

             

            Using IP Unnumbered Interfaces on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

            If you have a limited number of IP network or subnet addresses and you have point-to-point WANs in your network, you can use the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature to enable IP connectivity on the point-to-point WAN interfaces without actually assigning an IP address to them.

            Perform this task to configure the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature on a point-to-point WAN interface.

            IP Unnumbered Feature

            The IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature enables IP processing on a point-to-point WAN interface without assigning it an explicit IP address. The IP unnumbered point-to-point WAN interface uses the IP address of another interface to enable IP connectivity, which conserves network addresses.


            Note


            The following restrictions apply to the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature:

            • The IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature is only supported on point-to-point (non-multiaccess) WAN interfaces

            • You cannot netboot a Cisco IOS image over an interface that is using the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature


            SUMMARY STEPS

              1.    enable

              2.    configure terminal

              3.    interface type number

              4.    no shutdown

              5.    ip address ip-address mask

              6.    interface type number

              7.    no shutdown

              8.    ip unnumbered type number

              9.    end


            DETAILED STEPS
               Command or ActionPurpose
              Step 1 enable


              Example:
              Router> enable
               

              Enables privileged EXEC mode.

              • Enter your password if prompted.

               
              Step 2 configure terminal


              Example:
              Router# configure terminal
               

              Enters global configuration mode.

               
              Step 3 interface type number


              Example:
              Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
               

              Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

               
              Step 4 no shutdown


              Example:
              Router(config-if)# no shutdown
               

              Enables the interface.

               
              Step 5 ip address ip-address mask


              Example:
              Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0 
               

              Configures the IP address on the interface.

               
              Step 6 interface type number


              Example:
              Router(config-if)# interface serial 0/0
               

              Specifies a point-to-point WAN interface and enters interface configuration mode.

               
              Step 7 no shutdown


              Example:
              Router(config-if)# no shutdown
               

              Enables the point-to-point WAN interface.

               
              Step 8 ip unnumbered type number


              Example:
              Router(config-if)# ip unnumbered fastethernet 0/0
               

              Enables the IP unnumbered feature on the point-to-point WAN interface.

              In this example the point-to-point WAN interface uses IP address 172.16.16.1 from Fast Ethernet 0/0.

               
              Step 9 end


              Example:
              Router(config-if)# end
               

              Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

               

              Troubleshooting Tips

              The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

              • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

              • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

              Using IP addresses with 31-Bit Prefixes on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

              You can reduce the number of IP subnets used by networking devices to establish IP connectivity to point-to-point WANs that they are connected to by using IP Addresses with 31-bit Prefixes as defined in RFC 3021.

              Perform this task to configure an IP address with a 31-bit prefix on a point-to-point WAN interface.

              RFC 3021

              Prior to RFC 3021, Using 31-bit Prefixes on IPv4 Point-to-Point Links , many network administrators assigned IP address with a 30-bit subnet mask (255.255.255.252) to point-to-point interfaces to conserve IP address space. Although this practice does conserve IP address space compared to assigning IP addresses with shorter subnet masks such as 255.255.255.240, IP addresses with a 30-bit subnet mask still require four addresses per link: two host addresses (one for each host interface on the link), one all-zeros network address, and one all-ones broadcast network address.

              The table below shows an example of the four IP addresses that are created when a 30-bit (otherwise known as 255.255.255.252 or /30) subnet mask is applied to the IP address 192.168.100.4. The bits that are used to specify the host IP addresses in bold.

              Table 8 Four IP Addresses Created When a 30-Bit Subnet Mask (/30) Is Used

              Address

              Description

              Binary

              192.168.100.4/30

              All-zeros IP address

              11000000.10101000.01100100.00000100

              192.168.100.5/30

              First host addresses

              11000000.10101000.01100100.00000101

              192.168.100.6/30

              Second host address

              11000000.10101000.01100100.00000110

              192.168.100.7/30

              All-ones broadcast address

              11000000.10101000.01100100.00000111

              Point-to-point links only have two endpoints (hosts) and do not require broadcast support because any packet that is transmitted by one host is always received by the other host. Therefore the all-ones broadcast IP address is not required for a point-to-point interface.

              The simplest way to explain RFC 3021 is to say that the use of a 31-bit prefix (created by applying a 31-bit subnet mask to an IP address) allows the all-zeros and all-ones IP addresses to be assigned as host addresses on point-to-point networks. Prior to RFC 3021 the longest prefix in common use on point-to-point links was 30-bits, which meant that the all-zeros and all-ones IP addresses were wasted.

              The table below shows an example of the two IP addresses that are created when a 31-bit (otherwise known as 255.255.255.254 or /31) subnet mask is applied to the IP address 192.168.100.4. The bit that is used to specify the host IP addresses in bold

              Table 9 Two IP Addresses Created When a 31-Bit Subnet Mask (/31) Is Used

              Address

              Description

              Binary

              192.168.100.4/31

              First host address

              11000000.10101000.01100100.00000100

              192.168.100.5/31

              Second host address

              11000000.10101000.01100100.00000101

              The complete text for RFC 3021 is available at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc3021.txt .

              Before You Begin

              You must have classless IP addressing configured on your networking device before you configure an IP address with a 31-bit prefix on a point-to-point interface. Classless IP addressing is enabled by default in many versions of Cisco IOS software. If you are not certain that your networking device has IP classless addressing configured, enter the ip classless command in global configuration mode to enable it.


              Note


              This task can only be performed on point-to-point (nonmultiaccess) WAN interfaces.


              SUMMARY STEPS

                1.    enable

                2.    configure terminal

                3.    ip classless

                4.    interface type number

                5.    no shutdown

                6.    ip address ip-address mask

                7.    end


              DETAILED STEPS
                 Command or ActionPurpose
                Step 1 enable


                Example:
                Router> enable
                 

                Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                • Enter your password if prompted.

                 
                Step 2 configure terminal


                Example:
                Router# configure terminal
                 

                Enters global configuration mode.

                 
                Step 3 ip classless


                Example:
                Router(config)# ip classless
                 

                (Optional) Enables IP classless (CIDR).

                Note   

                This command is enabled by default in many versions of Cisco IOS. If you are not certain if it is enabled by default in the version of Cisco IOS that your networking device is running, enter the ip classlesscommand as shown. When you are done with this task view the configuration. If the ip classless command does not appear in your configuration, it is enabled by default.

                 
                Step 4 interface type number


                Example:
                Router(config)# interface serial 0/0
                 

                Specifies a point-to-point WAN interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                 
                Step 5 no shutdown


                Example:
                Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                 

                Enables the interface.

                 
                Step 6 ip address ip-address mask


                Example:
                Router(config-if)# ip address 192.168.100.4 255.255.255.254
                 

                Configures the 31bit prefix IP address on the point-to-point WAN interface.

                 
                Step 7 end


                Example:
                Router(config-if)# end
                 

                Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                 

                Troubleshooting Tips

                The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

                • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

                • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

                Configuration Examples for IP Addresses

                Example Establishing IP Connectivity to a Network by Assigning an IP Address to an Interface

                The following example configures an IP address on three interfaces:

                !
                interface FastEthernet0/0
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                !
                interface FastEthernet0/1
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.16.32.1 255.255.240.0
                !
                interface FastEthernet0/2
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.16.48.1 255.255.240.0
                !
                

                Example Increasing the Number of IP Hosts that are Supported on a Network by Using Secondary IP Addresses

                The following example configures secondary IP addresses on three interfaces:

                !
                interface FastEthernet0/0
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                 ip address 172.16.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                !
                !
                interface FastEthernet0/1
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.17.16.1 255.255.240.0
                 ip address 172.17.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                !
                !
                interface FastEthernet0/2
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.18.16.1 255.255.240.0
                 ip address 172.18.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                !
                

                Example Using IP Unnumbered Interfaces on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

                The following example configures the unnumbered IP feature on three interfaces:

                !
                interface FastEthernet0/0
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                !
                interface serial0/0
                 no shutdown
                 ip unnumbered fastethernet0/0
                !
                interface serial0/1
                 no shutdown
                 ip unnumbered fastethernet0/0
                !
                interface serial0/2
                 no shutdown
                 ip unnumbered fastethernet0/0
                !
                

                Example Using IP addresses with 31-Bit Prefixes on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

                The following example configures 31-bit prefixes on two interfaces:

                !
                ip classless
                !
                interface serial0/0
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 192.168.100.2 255.255.255.254
                !
                !
                interface serial0/1
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 192.168.100.4 255.255.255.254
                

                Example Maximizing the Number of Available IP Subnets by Allowing the Use of IP Subnet Zero

                The following example enables subnet zero:

                !
                interface FastEthernet0/0
                 no shutdown
                 ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                !
                ip subnet-zero
                !
                

                Where to Go Next

                If your network has two or more routers and you have not already configured a routing protocol, consult the Cisco IOS IP Routing Protocols Configuration Guide, Release 12.4T, for information on configuring routing protocols.

                Additional References

                Related Documents

                Related Topic

                Document Title

                Cisco IOS commands

                Cisco IOS Master Commands List, All Releases

                IP addressing commands: complete command syntax, command mode, command history, defaults, usage guidelines, and examples

                Cisco IOS IP Addressing Services Command Reference

                Fundamental principles of IP addressing and IP routing

                IP Routing Primer ISBN 1578701082

                Standards

                Standard

                Title

                No new or modified standards are supported, and support for existing standards has not been modified

                --

                MIBs

                MIB

                MIBs Link

                No new or modified MIBs are supported, and support for existing MIBs has not been modified

                To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

                http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​go/​mibs

                RFCs

                RFC6

                Title

                RFC 791

                Internet Protocol

                http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc0791.txt

                RFC 1338

                Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR): an Address Assignment and Aggregation Strategy http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1519.txt

                RFC 1466

                Guidelines for Management of IP Address Space http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1466.txt

                RFC 1716

                Towards Requirements for IP Routers http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1716.txt

                RFC 1918

                Address Allocation for Private Internets http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1918.txt

                RFC 3330

                Special-Use IP Addresses http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc3330.txt

                6 These references are only a sample of the many RFCs available on subjects related to IP addressing and IP routing. Refer to the IETF RFC site at http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html for a full list of RFCs.

                Technical Assistance

                Description

                Link

                The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

                http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​cisco/​web/​support/​index.htmll

                Feature Information for IP Addresses

                The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

                Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/​go/​cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

                Table 10 Feature Information for IP Addresses

                Feature Name

                Releases

                Feature Information

                Classless Inter-Domain Routing

                10.0

                CIDR is a new way of looking at IP addresses that eliminates the concept of classes (class A, class B, and so on). For example, network 192.213.0.0, which is an illegal class C network number, is a legal supernet when it is represented in CIDR notation as 192.213.0.0/16. The /16 indicates that the subnet mask consists of 16 bits (counting from the left). Therefore, 192.213.0.0/16 is similar to 192.213.0.0 255.255.0.0.

                The following command was introduced or modified: ip classless.

                IP Subnet Zero

                10.0

                In order to conserve IP address space IP Subnet Zero allows the use of the all-zeros subnet as an IP address on an interface, such as configuring 172.16.0.1/24 on Fast Ethernet 0/0.

                The following command was introduced or modified: ip subnet-zero.

                IP Unnumbered Interfaces

                10.0

                In order to conserve IP address space, IP unnumbered interfaces use the IP address of another interface to enable IP connectivity.

                The following command was introduced or modified: ip unnumbered.

                Using 31-bit Prefixes on IP Point-to-Point Links

                12.0(14)S 12.2(4)T

                In order to conserve IP address space on the Internet, a 31-bit prefix length allows the use of only two IP addresses on a point-to-point link. Previously, customers had to use four IP addresses or unnumbered interfaces for point-to-point links.


                Configuring IPv4 Addresses

                Contents

                Configuring IPv4 Addresses

                This chapter contains information about, and instructions for configuring IPv4 addresses on interfaces that are part of a networking device.


                Note


                All further references to IPv4 addresses in this document use only IP in the text, not IPv4.


                Finding Feature Information

                Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest caveats and feature information, see Bug Search Tool and the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the feature information table at the end of this module.

                Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/​go/​cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

                Information About IP Addresses

                Binary Numbering

                IP addresses are 32 bits long. The 32 bits are divided into four octets (8-bits). A basic understanding of binary numbering is very helpful if you are going to manage IP addresses in a network because changes in the values of the 32 bits indicate either a different IP network address or IP host address.

                A value in binary is represented by the number (0 or 1) in each position multiplied by the number 2 to the power of the position of the number in sequence, starting with 0 and increasing to 7, working right to left. The figure below is an example of an 8-digit binary number.

                Figure 1. Example of an 8-digit Binary Number

                The figure below provides binary to decimal number conversion for 0 through 134.

                Figure 2. Binary to Decimal Number Conversion for 0 to 134

                The figure below provides binary to decimal number conversion for 135 through 255.

                Figure 3. Binary to Decimal Number Conversion for 135 to 255

                IP Address Structure

                An IP host address identifies a device to which IP packets can be sent. An IP network address identifies a specific network segment to which one or more hosts can be connected. The following are characteristics of IP addresses:

                • IP addresses are 32 bits long

                • IP addresses are divided into four sections of one byte (octet) each

                • IP addresses are typically written in a format known as dotted decimal

                The table below shows some examples of IP addresses.

                Table 1 Examples of IP Addresses

                IP Addresses in Dotted Decimal

                IP Addresses in Binary

                10.34.216.75

                00001010.00100010.11011000.01001011

                172.16.89.34

                10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010

                192.168.100.4

                11000000.10101000.01100100.00000100


                Note


                The IP addresses in the table above are from RFC 1918, Address Allocation for Private Internets . These IP addresses are not routable on the Internet. They are intended for use in private networks. For more information on RFC1918, see http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1918.txt .


                IP addresses are further subdivided into two sections known as network and host. The division is accomplished by arbitrarily ranges of IP addresses to classes. For more information see RFC 791 Internet Protocol at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc0791.txt .

                IP Address Classes

                In order to provide some structure to the way IP addresses are assigned, IP addresses are grouped into classes. Each class has a range of IP addresses. The range of IP addresses in each class is determined by the number of bits allocated to the network section of the 32-bit IP address. The number of bits allocated to the network section is represented by a mask written in dotted decimal or with the abbreviation /n where n = the numbers of bits in the mask.

                The table below lists ranges of IP addresses by class and the masks associated with each class. The digits in bold indicate the network section of the IP address for each class. The remaining digits are available for host IP addresses. For example, IP address 10.90.45.1 with a mask of 255.0.0.0 is broken down into a network IP address of 10.0.0.0 and a host IP address of 0.90.45.1.

                Table 2 IP Address Ranges by Class with Masks

                Class

                Range

                A (range/mask in dotted decimal)

                0 .0.0.0 to 127.0.0.0/8 (255.0.0.0)

                A (range in binary)

                00000000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to01111111.00000000.00000000.00000000

                A (mask in binary)

                11111111.00000000.00000000.00000000/8

                B (range/mask in dotted decimal)

                128 .0.0.0 to 191.255.0.0/16 (255.255.0.0)

                B (range in binary)

                10000000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to10111111.11111111.00000000.00000000

                B (mask in binary)

                11111111 .11111111.00000000.00000000/16

                C (range/mask in dotted decimal)

                192 .0.0.0 to 223.255.255.0/24 (255.255.255.0)

                C (range in binary)

                11000000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to11011111.11111111.11111111.00000000

                C (mask in binary)

                11111111.11111111.11111111.0000000/24

                D1 (range/mask in dotted decimal)

                224 .0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255/32 (255.255.255.255)

                D (range in binary)

                11100000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to11101111.11111111.11111111.11111111

                D (mask in binary)

                11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111/32

                E2 (range/mask in dotted decimal)

                240 .0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255/32 (255.255.255.255)

                E (range in binary)

                11110000 .00000000.00000000.00000000 to11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111

                E (mask in binary)

                11111111.11111111.11111111.11111111/32

                1 Class D IP addresses are reserved for multicast applications.
                2 Class E IP addresses are reserved for broadcast traffic.

                Note


                Some IP addresses in these ranges are reserved for special uses. For more information refer to RFC 3330, Special-Use IP Addresses , at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc3330.txt .


                When a digit that falls within the network mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the network address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/16 to 10101100.00110000.01011001.00100010/16 you have changed the network address from 172.16.89.34/16 to 172.48.89.34/16.

                When a digit that falls outside the network mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the host address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/16 to 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100011/16 you have changed the host address from 172.16.89.34/16 to 172.16.89.35/16.

                Each class of IP address supports a specific range of IP network addresses and IP host addresses. The range of IP network addresses available for each class is determined with the formula 2 to the power of the number of available bits. In the case of class A addresses, the value of the first bit in the 1st octet (as shown in the table above) is fixed at 0. This leaves 7 bits for creating additional network addresses. Therefore there are 128 IP network addresses available for class A (27 = 128).

                The number of IP host addresses available for an IP address class is determined by the formula 2 to the power of the number of available bits minus 2. There are 24 bits available in a class A addresses for IP host addresses. Therefore there are 16,777,214 IP hosts addresses available for class A ((224) - 2 = 16,777,214)).


                Note


                The 2 is subtracted because there are 2 IP addresses that cannot be used for a host. The all 0’s host address cannot be used because it is the same as the network address. For example, 10.0.0.0 cannot be both a IP network address and an IP host address. The all 1’s address is a broadcast address that is used to reach all hosts on the network. For example, an IP datagram addressed to 10.255.255.255 will be accepted by every host on network 10.0.0.0.


                The table below shows the network and host addresses available for each class of IP address.

                Table 3 Network and Host Addresses Available for Each Class of IP Address

                Class

                Network Addresses

                Host Addresses

                A

                128

                16,777,214

                B

                16,3843

                65534

                C

                2,097,1524

                254

                3 Only 14 bits are available for class B IP network addresses because the first 2 bits are fixed at 10 as shown in Table 2 .
                4 Only 21 bits are available for class C IP network addresses because the first 3 bits are fixed at 110 as shown in Table 2 .

                IP Network Subnetting

                The arbitrary subdivision of network and host bits in IP address classes resulted in an inefficient allocation of IP space. For example, if your network has 16 separate physical segments you will need 16 IP network addresses. If you use 16 class B IP network addresses, you would be able to support 65,534 hosts on each of the physical segments. Your total number of supported host IP addresses is 1,048,544 (16 * 65,534 = 1,048,544). Very few network technologies can scale to having 65,534 hosts on a single network segment. Very few companies need 1,048,544 IP host addresses. This problem required the development of a new strategy that permitted the subdivision of IP network addresses into smaller groupings of IP subnetwork addresses. This strategy is known as subnetting.

                If your network has 16 separate physical segments you will need 16 IP subnetwork addresses. This can be accomplished with one class B IP address. For example, start with the class B IP address of 172.16.0.0 you can reserve 4 bits from the third octet as subnet bits. This gives you 16 subnet IP addresses 24 = 16. The table below shows the IP subnets for 172.16.0.0/20.

                Table 4 Examples of IP Subnet Addresses using 172.16.0.0/20

                Number

                IP Subnet Addresses in Dotted Decimal

                IP Subnet Addresses in Binary

                05

                172.16.0.0

                10101100.00010000.00000000.00000000

                1

                172.16.16.0

                10101100.00010000.00010000.00000000

                2

                172.16.32.0

                10101100.00010000.00100000.00000000

                3

                172.16.48.0

                10101100.00010000.00110000.00000000

                4

                172.16.64.0

                10101100.00010000.01000000.00000000

                5

                172.16.80.0

                10101100.00010000.01010000.00000000

                6

                172.16.96.0

                10101100.00010000.01100000.00000000

                7

                172.16.112.0

                10101100.00010000.01110000.00000000

                8

                172.16.128.0

                10101100.00010000.10000000.00000000

                9

                172.16.144.0

                10101100.00010000.10010000.00000000

                10

                172.16.160.0

                10101100.00010000.10100000.00000000

                11

                172.16.176.0

                10101100.00010000.10110000.00000000

                12

                172.16.192.0

                10101100.00010000.11000000.00000000

                13

                172.16.208.0

                10101100.00010000.11010000.00000000

                14

                172.16.224.0

                10101100.00010000.11100000.00000000

                15

                172.16.240.0

                10101100.00010000.11110000.00000000

                5 The first subnet that has all of the subnet bits set to 0 is referred to as subnet 0 . It is indistinguishable from the network address and must be used carefully.

                When a digit that falls within the subnetwork (subnet) mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the subnetwork address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/20 to 10101100.00010000.01111001.00100010/20 you have changed the network address from 172.16.89.34/20 to 172.16.121.34/20.

                When a digit that falls outside the subnet mask changes from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1 the host address is changed. For example, if you change 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100010/20 to 10101100.00010000.01011001.00100011/20 you have changed the host address from 172.16.89.34/20 to 172.16.89.35/20.


                Timesaver


                To avoid having to do manual IP network, subnetwork, and host calculations, use one of the free IP subnet calculators available on the Internet.


                Some people get confused about the terms network address and subnet or subnetwork addresses and when to use them. In the most general sense the term network address means “the IP address that routers use to route traffic to a specific network segment so that the intended destination IP host on that segment can receive it”. Therefore the term network address can apply to both non-subnetted and subnetted IP network addresses. When you are troubleshooting problems with forwarding traffic from a router to a specific IP network address that is actually a subnetted network address, it can help to be more specific by referring to the destination network address as a subnet network address because some routing protocols handle advertising subnet network routes differently from network routes. For example, the default behavior for RIP v2 is to automatically summarize the subnet network addresses that it is connected to their non-subnetted network addresses (172.16.32.0/24 is advertised by RIP v2 as 172.16.0.0/16) when sending routing updates to other routers. Therefore the other routers might have knowledge of the IP network addresses in the network, but not the subnetted network addresses of the IP network addresses.


                Tip


                The term IP address space is sometimes used to refer to a range of IP addresses. For example, “We have to allocate a new IP network address to our network because we have used all of the available IP addresses in the current IP address space”.


                IP Network Address Assignments

                Routers keep track of IP network addresses to understand the network IP topology (layer 3 of the OSI reference model) of the network to ensure that IP traffic can be routed properly. In order for the routers to understand the network layer (IP) topology, every individual physical network segment that is separated from any other physical network segment by a router must have a unique IP network address.

                The figure below shows an example of a simple network with correctly configured IP network addresses. The routing table in R1 looks like the table below.

                Table 5 Routing Table for a Correctly Configured Network

                Interface Ethernet 0

                Interface Ethernet 1

                172.31.32.0/24 (Connected)

                172.31.16.0/24 (Connected)

                Figure 4. Correctly Configured Network

                The figure below shows an example of a simple network with incorrectly configured IP network addresses. The routing table in R1 looks like the table below. If the PC with IP address 172.31.32.3 attempts to send IP traffic to the PC with IP address 172.31.32.54, router R1 cannot determine which interface that the PC with IP address 172.31.32.54 is connected to.

                Table 6 Routing Table in Router R1 for an Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 1)

                Ethernet 0

                Ethernet 1

                172.31.32.0/24 (Connected)

                172.31.32.0/24 (Connected)

                Figure 5. Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 1)

                To help prevent mistakes as shown in the figure above, Cisco IOS-based networking devices will not allow you to configure the same IP network address on two or more interfaces in the router when IP routing is enabled.

                The only way to prevent the mistake shown in the figure below, where 172.16.31.0/24 is used in R2 and R3, is to have very accurate network documentation that shows where you have assigned IP network addresses.

                Table 7 Routing Table in Router R1 for an Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 2)

                Ethernet 0

                Serial 0

                Serial 1

                172.16.32.0/24 (Connected)

                192.168.100.4/29 (Connected) 172.16.31.0/24 RIP

                192.168.100.8/29 (Connected) 172.16.31.0/24 RIP

                Figure 6. Incorrectly Configured Network (Example 2)

                For a more thorough explanation of IP routing, see the "Related Documents" section for a list of documents related to IP routing.

                Classless Inter-Domain Routing

                Due to the continuing increase in internet use and the limitations on how IP addresses can be assigned using the class structure shown in the table above, a more flexible method for allocating IP addresses was required. The new method is documented in RFC 1519 Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR): an Address Assignment and Aggregation Strategy. CIDR allows network administrators to apply arbitrary masks to IP addresses to create an IP addressing plan that meets the requirements of the networks that they administrate.

                For more information on CIDR, refer to RFC 1519 at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1519.txt.

                Prefixes

                The term prefix is often used to refer to the number of bits of an IP network address that are of importance for building routing tables. If you are using only classful (strict adherence to A, B, and C network address boundaries) IP addresses, the prefixes are the same as the masks for the classes of addresses. For example, using classful IP addressing, a class C IP network address such as 192.168.10.0 uses a 24-bit mask (/24 or 255.255.255.0) and can also be said to have a 24-bit prefix.

                If you are using CIDR, the prefixes are arbitrarily assigned to IP network addresses based on how you want to populate the routing tables in your network. For example, a group of class C IP addresses such as 192.168.10.0, 192.168.11.0, 192.168.12.0, 192.168.13.0 can be advertised as a single route to 192.168.0.0 with a 16-bit prefix (192.168.0.0/16). This results in a 4:1 reduction in the number of routes that the routers in your network need to manage.

                How to Configure IP Addresses

                Establishing IP Connectivity to a Network by Assigning an IP Address to an Interface

                Perform this task to configure an IP address on an interface.

                SUMMARY STEPS

                  1.    enable

                  2.    configure terminal

                  3.    interface type number

                  4.    no shutdown

                  5.    ip address ip-address mask

                  6.    end


                DETAILED STEPS
                   Command or ActionPurpose
                  Step 1 enable


                  Example:
                  Router> enable
                   

                  Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                  • Enter your password if prompted.

                   
                  Step 2 configure terminal


                  Example:
                  Router# configure terminal
                   

                  Enters global configuration mode.

                   
                  Step 3 interface type number


                  Example:
                  Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
                   

                  Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                   
                  Step 4 no shutdown


                  Example:
                  Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                   

                  Enables the interface.

                   
                  Step 5 ip address ip-address mask


                  Example:
                  Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                   

                  Configures the IP address on the interface.

                   
                  Step 6 end


                  Example:
                  Router(config-if)# end
                   

                  Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                   

                  Troubleshooting Tips

                  The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

                  • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

                  • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

                  Increasing the Number of IP Hosts that Are Supported on a Network by Using Secondary IP Addresses

                  If you have a situation in which you need to connect more IP hosts to a network segment and you have used all of the available IP host addresses for the subnet to which you have assigned the segment, you can avoid having to readdress all of the hosts with a different subnet by adding a second IP network address to the network segment.

                  Perform this task to configure a secondary IP address on an interface.

                  SUMMARY STEPS

                    1.    enable

                    2.    configure terminal

                    3.    interface type number

                    4.    no shutdown

                    5.    ip address ip-address mask

                    6.    ip address ip-address mask secondary

                    7.    end


                  DETAILED STEPS
                     Command or ActionPurpose
                    Step 1 enable


                    Example:
                    Router> enable
                     

                    Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                    • Enter your password if prompted.

                     
                    Step 2 configure terminal


                    Example:
                    Router# configure terminal
                     

                    Enters global configuration mode.

                     
                    Step 3 interface type number


                    Example:
                    Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
                     

                    Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                     
                    Step 4 no shutdown


                    Example:
                    Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                     

                    Enables the interface.

                     
                    Step 5 ip address ip-address mask


                    Example:
                    Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                     

                    Configures the IP address on the interface.

                     
                    Step 6 ip address ip-address mask secondary


                    Example:
                    Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                     

                    Configures the secondary IP address on the interface.

                     
                    Step 7 end


                    Example:
                    Router(config-if)# end
                     

                    Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                     

                    Troubleshooting Tips

                    The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

                    • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

                    • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

                    What to Do Next

                    If your network has two or more routers and you have already configured a routing protocol, make certain that the other routers can reach the new IP network that you assigned. You might need to modify the configuration for the routing protocol on the router so that it advertises the new network. Consult the Cisco IOS IP Routing: Protocol-Independent Configuration Guide for information on configuring routing protocols.

                    Maximizing the Number of Available IP Subnets by Allowing the Use of IP Subnet Zero

                    If you using subnetting in your network and you are running out of network addresses, you can configure your networking device to allow the configuration of subnet zero. This adds one more usable network address for every subnet in your IP addressing scheme. The table above shows the IP subnets (including subnet 0) for 172.16.0.0/20.

                    Perform this task to enable the use of IP subnet zero on your networking device.

                    SUMMARY STEPS

                      1.    enable

                      2.    configure terminal

                      3.    ip subnet-zero

                      4.    interface type number

                      5.    no shutdown

                      6.    ip address ip-address mask

                      7.    end


                    DETAILED STEPS
                       Command or ActionPurpose
                      Step 1 enable


                      Example:
                      Router> enable
                       

                      Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                      • Enter your password if prompted.

                       
                      Step 2 configure terminal


                      Example:
                      Router# configure terminal
                       

                      Enters global configuration mode.

                       
                      Step 3 ip subnet-zero


                      Example:
                      Router(config)# ip subnet-zero
                       

                      Enables the use of IP subnet zero.

                       
                      Step 4 interface type number


                      Example:
                      Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
                       

                      Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                       
                      Step 5 no shutdown


                      Example:
                      Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                       

                      Enables the interface.

                       
                      Step 6 ip address ip-address mask


                      Example:
                      Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.0.1 255.255.240.0
                       

                      Configures the subnet zero IP address on the interface.

                       
                      Step 7 end


                      Example:
                      Router(config-if)# end
                       

                      Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                       

                      Troubleshooting Tips

                      The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

                      • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

                      • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

                      Specifying the Format of Network Masks

                      By default, show commands display an IP address and then its netmask in dotted decimal notation. For example, a subnet would be displayed as 131.108.11.55 255.255.255.0.

                      You might find it more convenient to display the network mask in hexadecimal format or bit count format instead. The hexadecimal format is commonly used on UNIX systems. The previous example would be displayed as 131.108.11.55 0XFFFFFF00.

                      The bit count format for displaying network masks is to append a slash (/) and the total number of bits in the netmask to the address itself. The previous example would be displayed as 131.108.11.55/24.

                      Specifying the Format in Which Netmasks Appear for the Current Session

                      Perform this task to specify the format in which netmasks appear for the current session.

                      SUMMARY STEPS

                        1.    enable

                        2.    term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}


                      DETAILED STEPS
                         Command or ActionPurpose
                        Step 1 enable


                        Example:
                        Router> enable
                         

                        Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                        • Enter your password if prompted.

                         
                        Step 2 term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}


                        Example:
                        Router# term ip netmask-format hexadecimal
                         

                        Specifies the format the router uses to display network masks.

                         

                        Specifying the Format in Which Netmasks Appear for an Individual Line

                        Perform this task to specify the format in which netmasks appear for an individual line.

                        SUMMARY STEPS

                          1.    enable

                          2.    configure terminal

                          3.    line vty first last

                          4.    term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}

                          5.    end


                        DETAILED STEPS
                           Command or ActionPurpose
                          Step 1 enable


                          Example:
                          Router> enable
                           

                          Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                          • Enter your password if prompted.

                           
                          Step 2 configure terminal


                          Example:
                          Router# configure terminal
                           

                          Enters global configuration mode.

                           
                          Step 3 line vty first last


                          Example:
                          Router(config)# line vty 0 4
                           

                          Enters line configuration mode for the range of lines specified by the first and last arguments.

                           
                          Step 4 term ip netmask-format {bitcount | decimal | hexadecimal}


                          Example:
                          Router(config-line)# ip netmask-format hexadecimal
                           

                          Specifies the format the router uses to display the network mask for an individual line.

                           
                          Step 5 end


                          Example:
                          Router(config-if)# end
                           

                          Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                           

                          Using IP Unnumbered Interfaces on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

                          If you have a limited number of IP network or subnet addresses and you have point-to-point WANs in your network, you can use the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature to enable IP connectivity on the point-to-point WAN interfaces without actually assigning an IP address to them.

                          Perform this task to configure the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature on a point-to-point WAN interface.

                          IP Unnumbered Feature

                          The IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature enables IP processing on a point-to-point WAN interface without assigning it an explicit IP address. The IP unnumbered point-to-point WAN interface uses the IP address of another interface to enable IP connectivity, which conserves network addresses.


                          Note


                          The following restrictions apply to the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature:

                          • The IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature is only supported on point-to-point (non-multiaccess) WAN interfaces

                          • You cannot netboot a Cisco IOS image over an interface that is using the IP Unnumbered Interfaces feature


                          SUMMARY STEPS

                            1.    enable

                            2.    configure terminal

                            3.    interface type number

                            4.    no shutdown

                            5.    ip address ip-address mask

                            6.    interface type number

                            7.    no shutdown

                            8.    ip unnumbered type number

                            9.    end


                          DETAILED STEPS
                             Command or ActionPurpose
                            Step 1 enable


                            Example:
                            Router> enable
                             

                            Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                            • Enter your password if prompted.

                             
                            Step 2 configure terminal


                            Example:
                            Router# configure terminal
                             

                            Enters global configuration mode.

                             
                            Step 3 interface type number


                            Example:
                            Router(config)# interface fastethernet 0/0
                             

                            Specifies an interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                             
                            Step 4 no shutdown


                            Example:
                            Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                             

                            Enables the interface.

                             
                            Step 5 ip address ip-address mask


                            Example:
                            Router(config-if)# ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0 
                             

                            Configures the IP address on the interface.

                             
                            Step 6 interface type number


                            Example:
                            Router(config-if)# interface serial 0/0
                             

                            Specifies a point-to-point WAN interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                             
                            Step 7 no shutdown


                            Example:
                            Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                             

                            Enables the point-to-point WAN interface.

                             
                            Step 8 ip unnumbered type number


                            Example:
                            Router(config-if)# ip unnumbered fastethernet 0/0
                             

                            Enables the IP unnumbered feature on the point-to-point WAN interface.

                            In this example the point-to-point WAN interface uses IP address 172.16.16.1 from Fast Ethernet 0/0.

                             
                            Step 9 end


                            Example:
                            Router(config-if)# end
                             

                            Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                             

                            Troubleshooting Tips

                            The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

                            • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

                            • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

                            Using IP addresses with 31-Bit Prefixes on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

                            You can reduce the number of IP subnets used by networking devices to establish IP connectivity to point-to-point WANs that they are connected to by using IP Addresses with 31-bit Prefixes as defined in RFC 3021.

                            Perform this task to configure an IP address with a 31-bit prefix on a point-to-point WAN interface.

                            RFC 3021

                            Prior to RFC 3021, Using 31-bit Prefixes on IPv4 Point-to-Point Links , many network administrators assigned IP address with a 30-bit subnet mask (255.255.255.252) to point-to-point interfaces to conserve IP address space. Although this practice does conserve IP address space compared to assigning IP addresses with shorter subnet masks such as 255.255.255.240, IP addresses with a 30-bit subnet mask still require four addresses per link: two host addresses (one for each host interface on the link), one all-zeros network address, and one all-ones broadcast network address.

                            The table below shows an example of the four IP addresses that are created when a 30-bit (otherwise known as 255.255.255.252 or /30) subnet mask is applied to the IP address 192.168.100.4. The bits that are used to specify the host IP addresses in bold.

                            Table 8 Four IP Addresses Created When a 30-Bit Subnet Mask (/30) Is Used

                            Address

                            Description

                            Binary

                            192.168.100.4/30

                            All-zeros IP address

                            11000000.10101000.01100100.00000100

                            192.168.100.5/30

                            First host addresses

                            11000000.10101000.01100100.00000101

                            192.168.100.6/30

                            Second host address

                            11000000.10101000.01100100.00000110

                            192.168.100.7/30

                            All-ones broadcast address

                            11000000.10101000.01100100.00000111

                            Point-to-point links only have two endpoints (hosts) and do not require broadcast support because any packet that is transmitted by one host is always received by the other host. Therefore the all-ones broadcast IP address is not required for a point-to-point interface.

                            The simplest way to explain RFC 3021 is to say that the use of a 31-bit prefix (created by applying a 31-bit subnet mask to an IP address) allows the all-zeros and all-ones IP addresses to be assigned as host addresses on point-to-point networks. Prior to RFC 3021 the longest prefix in common use on point-to-point links was 30-bits, which meant that the all-zeros and all-ones IP addresses were wasted.

                            The table below shows an example of the two IP addresses that are created when a 31-bit (otherwise known as 255.255.255.254 or /31) subnet mask is applied to the IP address 192.168.100.4. The bit that is used to specify the host IP addresses in bold

                            Table 9 Two IP Addresses Created When a 31-Bit Subnet Mask (/31) Is Used

                            Address

                            Description

                            Binary

                            192.168.100.4/31

                            First host address

                            11000000.10101000.01100100.00000100

                            192.168.100.5/31

                            Second host address

                            11000000.10101000.01100100.00000101

                            The complete text for RFC 3021 is available at http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc3021.txt .

                            Before You Begin

                            You must have classless IP addressing configured on your networking device before you configure an IP address with a 31-bit prefix on a point-to-point interface. Classless IP addressing is enabled by default in many versions of Cisco IOS software. If you are not certain that your networking device has IP classless addressing configured, enter the ip classless command in global configuration mode to enable it.


                            Note


                            This task can only be performed on point-to-point (nonmultiaccess) WAN interfaces.


                            SUMMARY STEPS

                              1.    enable

                              2.    configure terminal

                              3.    ip classless

                              4.    interface type number

                              5.    no shutdown

                              6.    ip address ip-address mask

                              7.    end


                            DETAILED STEPS
                               Command or ActionPurpose
                              Step 1 enable


                              Example:
                              Router> enable
                               

                              Enables privileged EXEC mode.

                              • Enter your password if prompted.

                               
                              Step 2 configure terminal


                              Example:
                              Router# configure terminal
                               

                              Enters global configuration mode.

                               
                              Step 3 ip classless


                              Example:
                              Router(config)# ip classless
                               

                              (Optional) Enables IP classless (CIDR).

                              Note   

                              This command is enabled by default in many versions of Cisco IOS. If you are not certain if it is enabled by default in the version of Cisco IOS that your networking device is running, enter the ip classlesscommand as shown. When you are done with this task view the configuration. If the ip classless command does not appear in your configuration, it is enabled by default.

                               
                              Step 4 interface type number


                              Example:
                              Router(config)# interface serial 0/0
                               

                              Specifies a point-to-point WAN interface and enters interface configuration mode.

                               
                              Step 5 no shutdown


                              Example:
                              Router(config-if)# no shutdown
                               

                              Enables the interface.

                               
                              Step 6 ip address ip-address mask


                              Example:
                              Router(config-if)# ip address 192.168.100.4 255.255.255.254
                               

                              Configures the 31bit prefix IP address on the point-to-point WAN interface.

                               
                              Step 7 end


                              Example:
                              Router(config-if)# end
                               

                              Exits the current configuration mode and returns to privileged EXEC mode.

                               

                              Troubleshooting Tips

                              The following commands can help troubleshoot IP addressing:

                              • show ip interface --Displays the IP parameters for the interface.

                              • show ip route connected --Displays the IP networks the networking device is connected to.

                              Configuration Examples for IP Addresses

                              Example Establishing IP Connectivity to a Network by Assigning an IP Address to an Interface

                              The following example configures an IP address on three interfaces:

                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/0
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/1
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.16.32.1 255.255.240.0
                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/2
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.16.48.1 255.255.240.0
                              !
                              

                              Example Increasing the Number of IP Hosts that are Supported on a Network by Using Secondary IP Addresses

                              The following example configures secondary IP addresses on three interfaces:

                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/0
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                               ip address 172.16.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                              !
                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/1
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.17.16.1 255.255.240.0
                               ip address 172.17.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                              !
                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/2
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.18.16.1 255.255.240.0
                               ip address 172.18.32.1 255.255.240.0 secondary
                              !
                              

                              Example Using IP Unnumbered Interfaces on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

                              The following example configures the unnumbered IP feature on three interfaces:

                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/0
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                              !
                              interface serial0/0
                               no shutdown
                               ip unnumbered fastethernet0/0
                              !
                              interface serial0/1
                               no shutdown
                               ip unnumbered fastethernet0/0
                              !
                              interface serial0/2
                               no shutdown
                               ip unnumbered fastethernet0/0
                              !
                              

                              Example Using IP addresses with 31-Bit Prefixes on Point-to-Point WAN Interfaces to Limit Number of IP Addresses Required

                              The following example configures 31-bit prefixes on two interfaces:

                              !
                              ip classless
                              !
                              interface serial0/0
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 192.168.100.2 255.255.255.254
                              !
                              !
                              interface serial0/1
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 192.168.100.4 255.255.255.254
                              

                              Example Maximizing the Number of Available IP Subnets by Allowing the Use of IP Subnet Zero

                              The following example enables subnet zero:

                              !
                              interface FastEthernet0/0
                               no shutdown
                               ip address 172.16.16.1 255.255.240.0
                              !
                              ip subnet-zero
                              !
                              

                              Where to Go Next

                              If your network has two or more routers and you have not already configured a routing protocol, consult the Cisco IOS IP Routing Protocols Configuration Guide, Release 12.4T, for information on configuring routing protocols.

                              Additional References

                              Related Documents

                              Related Topic

                              Document Title

                              Cisco IOS commands

                              Cisco IOS Master Commands List, All Releases

                              IP addressing commands: complete command syntax, command mode, command history, defaults, usage guidelines, and examples

                              Cisco IOS IP Addressing Services Command Reference

                              Fundamental principles of IP addressing and IP routing

                              IP Routing Primer ISBN 1578701082

                              Standards

                              Standard

                              Title

                              No new or modified standards are supported, and support for existing standards has not been modified

                              --

                              MIBs

                              MIB

                              MIBs Link

                              No new or modified MIBs are supported, and support for existing MIBs has not been modified

                              To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL:

                              http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​go/​mibs

                              RFCs

                              RFC6

                              Title

                              RFC 791

                              Internet Protocol

                              http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc0791.txt

                              RFC 1338

                              Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR): an Address Assignment and Aggregation Strategy http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1519.txt

                              RFC 1466

                              Guidelines for Management of IP Address Space http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1466.txt

                              RFC 1716

                              Towards Requirements for IP Routers http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1716.txt

                              RFC 1918

                              Address Allocation for Private Internets http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc1918.txt

                              RFC 3330

                              Special-Use IP Addresses http:/​/​www.ietf.org/​rfc/​rfc3330.txt

                              6 These references are only a sample of the many RFCs available on subjects related to IP addressing and IP routing. Refer to the IETF RFC site at http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html for a full list of RFCs.

                              Technical Assistance

                              Description

                              Link

                              The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password.

                              http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​cisco/​web/​support/​index.htmll

                              Feature Information for IP Addresses

                              The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.

                              Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/​go/​cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.

                              Table 10 Feature Information for IP Addresses

                              Feature Name

                              Releases

                              Feature Information

                              Classless Inter-Domain Routing

                              10.0

                              CIDR is a new way of looking at IP addresses that eliminates the concept of classes (class A, class B, and so on). For example, network 192.213.0.0, which is an illegal class C network number, is a legal supernet when it is represented in CIDR notation as 192.213.0.0/16. The /16 indicates that the subnet mask consists of 16 bits (counting from the left). Therefore, 192.213.0.0/16 is similar to 192.213.0.0 255.255.0.0.

                              The following command was introduced or modified: ip classless.

                              IP Subnet Zero

                              10.0

                              In order to conserve IP address space IP Subnet Zero allows the use of the all-zeros subnet as an IP address on an interface, such as configuring 172.16.0.1/24 on Fast Ethernet 0/0.

                              The following command was introduced or modified: ip subnet-zero.

                              IP Unnumbered Interfaces

                              10.0

                              In order to conserve IP address space, IP unnumbered interfaces use the IP address of another interface to enable IP connectivity.

                              The following command was introduced or modified: ip unnumbered.

                              Using 31-bit Prefixes on IP Point-to-Point Links

                              12.0(14)S 12.2(4)T

                              In order to conserve IP address space on the Internet, a 31-bit prefix length allows the use of only two IP addresses on a point-to-point link. Previously, customers had to use four IP addresses or unnumbered interfaces for point-to-point links.