The goal of subnetting is to create a fast, efficient, and resilient computer network. As networks become larger and more complex, the traffic traveling through them needs more efficient routes. If all network traffic was traveling across the system at the same time using the same route, bottlenecks and congestion would occur resulting in sluggish and inefficient backlogs.

Creating a subnet allows you to limit the number of routers that network traffic has to pass through. An engineer will effectively create smaller mini-routes within a larger network to allow traffic to travel the shortest distance possible.