IP Addressing

IP Addressing
THE CCNP EXAM TOPICS COVERED IN THIS
CHAPTER INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:


Review the fundamental concepts of IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.


Understand the benefits of extending IP addresses.


Learn how VLSM can be used to extend IP addresses.


Become familiar with CIDR (classless interdomain routing).


Recognize the benefits of route summarization.


Examine the features of IPv6.

In this chapter, we will discuss both IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.
However, we assume that you have a basic understanding of IPv4
addressing and subnetting.
Even though this chapter does review IP addressing, you must have a fundamental
understanding of IP subnetting before reading this chapter. The
CCNA
Study Guide,
4th Edition,
by Todd Lammle (Sybex, 2004) has a complete chapter
on IP addressing and subnetting. Please read that chapter prior to reading
this chapter, if you are not already familiar with the topic.
After we review IPv4 addressing, we will provide detailed descriptions and examples of
advanced IPv4 addressing techniques that you can use on your production networks to extend
IPv4 addresses. First, we’ll discuss variable-length subnet masks (VLSMs) and provide an example
to show how VLSMs can be used to help save precious address space on your network.
After discussing VLSMs, we will provide an understanding of classless interdomain routing
(CIDR), as well as summarization techniques. Finally, we will explain the next generation of IP
addressing known as IPv6 and show how this can alleviate the shortage of IP addresses on the
global Internet. We will also discuss how IPv6 provides some enhanced networking features.
After you have read the chapter, you can use both the written and hands-on labs on the
accompanying CD to help you better prepare for using the advanced IP addressing techniques
found in this chapter. Also, to help you study for the Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks
(BSCI) exam, be sure to read the review questions on the CD