LAN

(Local Area Network).

______________________________________________
A LAN (Local Area Network) is an individual network that covers a single geographical area,
providing networking services and applications to people within a common managerial
structure, such as a single business, campus or region.

A LAN is usually administered by a single organization. The administrative

control that governs the security and access control policies are enforced on
the network level.
LANs and WANs are very useful to individual organizations. They connect the
users within the organization. They allow many forms of communication
including exchanging of e-mails, corporate training, and other resource
sharing.
Cisco Networking Books and Exam Resources
CCNA - Past Questions & Answers with Explanation

Communication with data, voice, and video is critical to business survival. Consequently, a
properly designed LAN is a fundamental requirement for doing business today. You must be

able to recognize a well-designed LAN and select the appropriate devices to support the
network specifications of a small- or medium-sized business.

Reserved IPv4 Addresses.

Major block of addresses are reserved for special purposes is the IPv4 experimental or
research address range 240.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.254. Currently, these addresses are listed
as reserved for future use (RFC 3330).
Reserved IPv4 Address Range
Types of Addresses Usage
Address Range
Host Address
Used for IPv4 hosts 0.0.0.0 to
223.255.255.255
Multicast Addresses Used for multicast
224.0.0.0. to
groups on a local
239.255.255.255
network
Experimental or
Used for research or 240.0.0.0 to
Research Addresses experimental
255.255.255.254
purposes. They can
not be used for
hosts in IPv4
networks

RFC
790
1700

1700
3330

Special IPv4 Addresses

During assignment of IP addresses to host on a network, there are certain addresses that
cannot be assigned to hosts; they are the Network Address and Broadcast Address.
Network and Broadcast Addresses
When assigning an address to a host, the first and last addresses are not to be assigned.
The first address is the Network Address and last is reserved as the Broadcast Address.
e.g.
Given the Network 192.168.1.0 /24
192.168.1.0 (Network)
192.168.1.1 (default gateway)
192.168.1.255 (Broadcast)
So, 192.168.1.2 254 (hosts)
Broadcast:
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0919.txt?number=919

Default Route

The default route is used as all-purpose address in a network when a more specific route is
available for packet routing.
e.g. 0.0.0.0 /8

Loopback
The loopback is a special address that all host in a network use to direct traffic to
themselves. TCP/IP applications and services that operate in a device use this as a shortcut
for communicating with one other. You can also ping the loopback address to test the
configuration of TCP/IP on the local host.
Loopback address: 127.0.0.1

Link-Local Addresses
IPv4 addresses in the address block 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255 (169.254.0.0 /16) are
designated as link-local addresses. These addresses can be automatically assigned to the
local host by the operating system in environments where no IP configuration is available.
Only devices in the same network can use these address range.

TEST-NET Addresses.
The addresses 192.0.2.0 to 192.0.2.255 (192.0.2.0 /24) is set aside for teaching and
learning purposes. These addresses can be used in documentation and network examples.
Unlike the experimental addresses, network devices used in teaching and learning will
accept these addresses in their configurations. You may often find these addresses used
with the domain names example.com or example.net in RFCs, vendor, and protocol
documentation.

Variable Length Subnet Mask

(VLSM).
Variable Length Subnet Masking - VLSM - is a technique that allows network administrators
to divide an IP address space into subnets of different sizes, unlike simple samesize Subnetting.
Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) in a way, means subnetting a subnet. To simplify
further, VLSM is the breaking down of IP addresses into subnets (multiple levels) and
allocating it according to the individual need on a network. It can also be called a classless
IP addressing. A classful addressing follows the general rule that has been proven to
amount to IP address wastage.
Before you can understand VLSM, you have to be very familiar with IP address structure.
The best way you can learn how to subnet a subnet (VLSM) is with examples. Lets work
with the diagram below:

Looking at the diagram, we have three LANs connected to each other with two WAN links.
The first thing to look out for is the number of subnets and number of hosts. In this case,
an ISP allocated 192.168.1.0/24. Class C
HQ = 50 host
RO1 = 30 hosts
RO2 = 10 hosts
2 WAN links
We will try and subnet 192.168.1.0 /24 to sooth this network which allows a total number of
254 hosts I recommend you get familiar with this table below. I never leave home without
it!

Lets begin with HQ with 50 hosts, using the table above:

We are borrowing 2 bits with value of 64. This is the closest we can get for 50 hosts.

HQ - 192.168.1.0 /26 Network address

HQ = 192.168.1.1 Gateway address
192.168.1.2, First usable address
192.168.1.62- Last usable address. Total address space -192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.62
192.168.1.63 will be the broadcast address (remember to reserve the first and last
address for the Network and Broadcast)
HQ Network Mask 255.255.255.192 - we got the 192 by adding the bit value from the
left to the value we borrowed = 128+64=192
HQ address will look like this 192.168.1.0 /26

RO1 = 30 hosts
We are borrowing 3 bits with value of 32; this again is the closest we can get to the number
of host needed.
RO1 address will start from 192.168.1.64 - Network address
Now we add the 32 to the 64 we borrowed earlier = 32+64 = 96
RO1 = 192.168.1.65 Gateway address
192.168.1.66 - First usable IP address
192.168.1.94 - Last usable IP address
192.168.1.95 Broadcast address total address space 192.168.1.66 192.168.1. 94
Network Mask 255.255.255.224 I.e. 128+64+32=224 or 192.168.1.64/27

RO2 = 192.168.1.96 Network address

We borrow 4 bits with the value of 16. Thats the closest we can go.
96+16= 112

So, 192.168.1.97- Gateway address

192.168.1.98 - First usable address
192.168.1.110 - Last usable address
192.168.1.111 broadcast
Total host address space 192.168.1.98 to 192.168.1.110
Network Mask 255.255.255.240 or 192.168.1.96 /28

WAN links = we are borrowing 6 bit with value of 4

=112 + 4 =116
WAN links from HQ to RO1 Network address will be 192.168.1.112 /30 :
HQ se0/0 = 192.168.1.113
RO1 se0/0= 192.168.1.114
Mask for both links= 255.255.255.252 ( we got 252 by adding the bits value we borrowed
i.e
124 +64 +32 +16+ 8 +4=252

WAN Link 2= 112+4=116

WAN Link from HQ to RO2 Network address = 192.168.1.116 /30
HQ = 192.168.1.117

subnet mask 255.255.255.252

RO2 = 192.168.1.118 Subnet mask 255.255.255.252

Subnet Prefix / CIDR

Subnet mask

/26
/27
/28
/29
/30

255.255.255.192
255.255.255.224
255.255.255.240
255.255.255.248
255.255.255.252

Usable IP
address/hosts
62
30
14
6
2

Usable IP addresses + Network

and Broadcast address
64
32
16
8
4

As

I mentioned earlier, having this table will prove very helpful. For example,
if you have a subnet with 50 hosts then you can easily see from the table
that you will need a block size of 64. For a subnet of 30 hosts you will need
a block size of 32.

Internet Protocol Version 6 IPv6.

What is IPv6?

IPv6 is the next generation of IP addressing or Internet Protocol. The previous version of IP
addressing (IPv4) is depleted or near depletion.
IPv6 was created by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), a standards body, as a
replacement to IPv4 in 1998.

However, IPv6 is equipped with so much improved features and limitless opportunities more
than IPv4. This next generation of IP addressing boasts of increased securities and more IP
addressing space.

IPv6 predecessor (IPv4) uses 32 bits for addressing. It provides approximately =

4,294,967,296 unique addresses only 3.7 billion addresses are assignable or routable on
the internet.

IPv6 is equipped with 128 bits for addressing. This provides approximately 3.4 x 1038
addresses. This run into trillions for every individual on the planet! Thats a hell of a huge
number of IP addresses. We will look at it in details later on.

The most important feature offered by IPv6 is the address auto configuration. This feature
supports fast connectivity for any combination of computers, printers, digital cameras,
digital radios, IP phones, Internet-enabled household appliances, to be connected to their
home networks.

In a nutshell, these devices on the network automatically address themselves with a link
local unicast address.
The autoconfiguration mechanism was introduced to enable plug-and-play networking of
these devices to help reduce administration overhead.

Other Improved Features of IPv6.

Many of the improvements that IPv6 offers are, including:

Superior IP addressing

Simplified header

Mobility and security

Superior IP Addressing: A larger address space offers several improvements, which

include global connectivity and flexibility. It also offers more plug-and-play options for more
devices and auto configuration that can include Data Link layer addresses in the address
space..etc.

Simplified header: The IPv6 simplified header offers several advantages over IPv4, this
includes:

IPv6 offers better routing efficiency for performance.

Elimination of broadcasts and thus no potential threat of broadcast storms (uses

multicast traffic instead)

No requirement for processing checksums.

Simplified and more efficient extension header mechanisms.

Improved Mobility and Security. Mobility and security help ensure compliance with
consumers mobile IP and IP Security (IPsec) standards functionality. Mobility enables people
with mobile network devices, many with wireless connectivity, to move around in networks.
However, IPsec is available for both IPv4 and IPv6. Its functionalities are basically identical
in both internet protocols, IPsec is mandatory in IPv6, making the IPv6 Internet more
secure.

Variable Length Subnet Mask

(VLSM).
Variable Length Subnet Masking - VLSM - is a technique that allows network administrators
to divide an IP address space into subnets of different sizes, unlike simple samesize Subnetting.

Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) in a way, means subnetting a subnet. To simplify
further, VLSM is the breaking down of IP addresses into subnets (multiple levels) and
allocating it according to the individual need on a network. It can also be called a classless
IP addressing. A classful addressing follows the general rule that has been proven to
amount to IP address wastage.

Before you can understand VLSM, you have to be very familiar with IP address structure.
The best way you can learn how to subnet a subnet (VLSM) is with examples. Lets work
with the diagram below:

Looking at the diagram, we have three LANs connected to each other with two WAN links.
The first thing to look out for is the number of subnets and number of hosts. In this case,
an ISP allocated 192.168.1.0/24. Class C
HQ = 50 host
RO1 = 30 hosts
RO2 = 10 hosts
2 WAN links
We will try and subnet 192.168.1.0 /24 to sooth this network which allows a total number of
254 hosts I recommend you get familiar with this table below. I never leave home without
it!

Lets begin with HQ with 50 hosts, using the table above:

We are borrowing 2 bits with value of 64. This is the closest we can get for 50 hosts.

HQ - 192.168.1.0 /26 Network address

HQ = 192.168.1.1 Gateway address
192.168.1.2, First usable address
192.168.1.62- Last usable address. Total address space -192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.62
192.168.1.63 will be the broadcast address (remember to reserve the first and last
address for the Network and Broadcast)
HQ Network Mask 255.255.255.192 - we got the 192 by adding the bit value from the
left to the value we borrowed = 128+64=192
HQ address will look like this 192.168.1.0 /26

RO1 = 30 hosts
We are borrowing 3 bits with value of 32; this again is the closest we can get to the number
of host needed.
RO1 address will start from 192.168.1.64 - Network address
Now we add the 32 to the 64 we borrowed earlier = 32+64 = 96
RO1 = 192.168.1.65 Gateway address
192.168.1.66 - First usable IP address
192.168.1.94 - Last usable IP address

192.168.1.95 Broadcast address total address space 192.168.1.66 192.168.1. 94

Network Mask 255.255.255.224 I.e. 128+64+32=224 or 192.168.1.64/27

RO2 = 192.168.1.96 Network address

We borrow 4 bits with the value of 16. Thats the closest we can go.
96+16= 112
So, 192.168.1.97- Gateway address
192.168.1.98 - First usable address
192.168.1.110 - Last usable address
192.168.1.111 broadcast
Total host address space 192.168.1.98 to 192.168.1.110
Network Mask 255.255.255.240 or 192.168.1.96 /28

WAN links = we are borrowing 6 bit with value of 4

=112 + 4 =116
WAN links from HQ to RO1 Network address will be 192.168.1.112 /30 :
HQ se0/0 = 192.168.1.113
RO1 se0/0= 192.168.1.114
Mask for both links= 255.255.255.252 ( we got 252 by adding the bits value we borrowed
i.e
124 +64 +32 +16+ 8 +4=252

WAN Link 2= 112+4=116

WAN Link from HQ to RO2 Network address = 192.168.1.116 /30
HQ = 192.168.1.117

subnet mask 255.255.255.252

RO2 = 192.168.1.118 Subnet mask 255.255.255.252

Subnet Prefix
/ CIDR

Subnet mask

/26
/27
/28
/29
/30

255.255.255.192
255.255.255.224
255.255.255.240
255.255.255.248
255.255.255.252

Usable IP
Usable IP addresses +
address/hosts Network and Broadcast
address
62
64
30
32
14
16
6
8
2
4

As I mentioned earlier, having this table will prove very helpful. For example, if you

have a subnet with 50 hosts then you can easily see from the table that you will
need a block size of 64. For a subnet of 30 hosts you will need a block size of 32.