What is Supernet?

What is Supernet?

A Supernet, for instance, is an approach in the networking practice that improves the performance of small, separate IP networks into a single, complicated network. The emergence of path aggregation helps in that way by decreasing the number of routing table entries that are necessary for the traffic to be routed among the networks....

Primary Terminologies

Supernet: A Supernet is a unified, aggregated network that comprises of many network segments. It helps automate routing operations in a network, thus reducing the network’s routing table size....

Rules of Supernetting

Supernetting is applied in two networks if they follow below rules:...

Difference Between Subnetting and Supernetting

Feature Subnetting Supernetting Definition Divides a larger network into smaller subnets. Combines multiple smaller networks into a larger one. Purpose Efficient utilization of IP addresses and network resources. Aggregation of contiguous network addresses to reduce routing table size. Result Creates smaller, more manageable subnetworks. Creates larger, more efficient supernetworks. Address Allocation Requires additional IP address space for each subnet. Requires contiguous address blocks to be aggregated. Routing Tables Increases the size of routing tables due to multiple subnets. Decreases the size of routing tables by aggregating routes. Administration Adds complexity in managing multiple subnets and their configurations. Simplifies network management by reducing the number of routes to maintain. Network Segmentation Enhances network security by isolating subnets. May reduce network segmentation depending on the scope of supernetting. Example An organization with departments segmented into separate subnets. Aggregating multiple class C networks (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24, 192.168.2.0/24) into a single supernet (e.g., 192.168.0.0/22)....

Advantages

Supernetting reduce routing table entry. Router will take less time for processing the packet. It improve flexibility of IP address allotment i.e., if someone required 500 address then we have no need to purchase class B network we can combine two class C network. Efficient use of IP address: We know for every network two IP address is not assign to any host because one is used for network id and other is used for broadcast address. So if we use three network then six IP address is not assign to any host, this is wastage of IP address if we combine three network into single then only two IP address is not assign to any host....

Disadvantages

Security: If supernetting is not done in proper way then security may be a issue, id we combine several networks in a single network may increase the attacking surface and this make network security more challenging. Complexity: Suppernetting is not a easy task, it is challenging task to merge different networks into single one. And while performing supernetting software and hardware are required, this increase the cost and network complexity. Increase Complexity in Routing: In suppernetting, finding a proper path for a data packet is not a easy task, this leads to increase in routing complexity. Limited Scalability: We can not add two networks if their network id not contiguous....

Conclusion

Super netting is a specific network scalability technology that helps companies to combine into a larger, aggregated network several smaller IP networks. Super netting accomplices this by simplifying routing and decreases the size of the tab routing. As a result, there is an improvement in efficiency and scalability in networking. It is necessary to strictly monitor and design super netting underlining that it is in accordance with the corporation’s expectations. Otherwise, it entails routing issues and networks inefficiency....

Frequently Asked Questions on Supernet – FAQs

Why is super netting or hyper lacing used?...