Subnets / multiple non-contiguous IP ranges
I am trying to understand some subnetting basics here and have the following question:
I currently have 1 class C on a switch. Now, this class C is being used entirely by 1 server. I now need some more IP's for some boxes that I am going to bring online on the same switch. My upstream provider does not have any more class C's that are contiguous to my current class C. Ie.. if my Ip range was 12.12.12.x , then 12.12.11.x and 12.12.13.x are not available for me to use.
Ok, from what I understand about subnetting, I cannot have 2 non-contiguous IP ranges on a single segment (Ie, my switch). Does anyone know of any ways to get around this without dumping my current IP's and getting a larger range?
I am currently using a netmask of 255.255.255.0 on the class C that I have. Could I not just use 255.255.255.255 on any additional IP ranges that are assigned to me?
I believe this would cause all packets from each IP to be sent through a router and then back even if the 2 IP's were on the same box. On a webserver, the only time I could see this happening is when you send an email from one domain to another domain on the same box. However this rarely happens, so I don't think it should be such a big deal...
Anyways, if anyone could enlighten me a little bit on this subject, it would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
