A network can be defined as a group of two or more computers that can communicate with each other in order to share data and resources. A device in the network is uniquely identified by IP addresses.
Subnetting and Supernetting are the two ways to organise these IP addresses. The main difference between them is, Subnetting is a technique of dividing a network into smaller ones, on other hand, Supernetting is a technique of combining several networks to a large network. Both techniques has their own advantages and disadvantages
Difference Between Subnetting And Supernetting:
| Basis | Subnetting | Supernetting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It is a technique to split a network into smaller subnetworks | It is the technique of merging various networks to form one single network |
| Number of addresses’s bits | Decrease | Increase |
| Movement of Mask bits | Right of the default mask | Left of the default mask |
| Designed by | Variable-Length Subnet Masking | Classless Inter-domain Masking |
| Objective | Deals with network congestion and increase performance | Reducing the number of entries in a routing table that simplify the routing process |
SUBNETTING
The technique of dividing the Physical network into various smaller subnetworks which are essentially logical and known as Subnetting. “Subnets” is the nomenclature given to these smaller and downsized subnetworks. There is a combination of the host segment and the network segment to form the IP address of these subnetworks. The major objective of the subnetting is to convert all the host related bits into the network bits.
SUPERNETTING
The technique which is completely opposite to the process of Subnetting; this means that various other networks are merged and joined to form one single network, this is known as Supernetting.
There are various other names of Supernetting like aggregation and Router summarization. The major objective of Supernetting is to convert all the network related bits into the host bits.
Key Differences:
- The subnetting is the technique to divide the network into smaller subnetworks. The Supernetting is the technique of uniting various other networks to form one single network.
- In subnetting, the network address’s numbers of bits are dramatically increased whereas, in Supernetting the host address’s numbers of bits are dramatically increased.
- In subnetting, the movement of the masked bits is towards the right of the default mask. While, in Supernetting the movement of the masked bits is towards the left of the default mask.
- In subnetting, the technique of masking used is Variable-Length Subnet Masking. In Supernetting, the technique of masking used is Classless Interdomain Masking.