The Internet continues to grow at a very rapid rate. Together with this growth there is an accompanying growth of the technologies on which it is based. These technologies make use of TCP/IP as their networking protocols. To use TCP/IP efficiently and reliably, networks that are based on these protocols must be designed, installed and maintained in as effective a way as possible.


Underpinning all of these ideas is the principle of subnet design. This book takes the principles on which subnet design is based and develops them to fully explain the fundamental design concepts on which modern TCP/IP networks depend.

This book is aimed at both the network professional and the enthusiastic network user. It explains how subnets work and the rationale behind their design and implementation. Through graded examples it guides the user from simple network issues and the associated calculation of the relevant subnet masks through to larger enterprise-level considerations for subnet designs.

This book:

Provides a thorough understanding of how subnets work
Shows how to subnet the different classes of IP addresses
Provides the design and calculations of variable-length subnet masks
Explains how CIDR (supernetting) works
Gives you an overview of how DHCP works
Shows the integration of DHPC with subnets
Explains design consideration for network designs


Keith Sutherland is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer specialising in TCP/IP, IIS and SQL server. For the last 25 years he has been an independent consultant and lecturer working throughout the IT industry. As a result he has trained many thousands of industrial and commercial staff over that period. Currently he divides his time between lecturing, consultancy and research work. He lives in the UK and travels world-wide for both business and pleasure. His client list includes many "Blue-Chip" companies together with government and international organisations.

Covers 'what if' scenarios
Includes case studies in small, medium and large companies
A useful source of reference and tutorial for the TCP/IP exam as well as the NT Server 4.0 and 5.0 in the Enterprise exam