NAT: Network Address Translation

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Internet communication

TCP/IP is the protocol which is widely used for communication on the internet. IP addresses are used for identifying devices in a TCP/IP environment. IP addresses are segregated as classes out of which Class A, Class B, class C are used for the hosts. Class D is used for multicast and Class E is reserved. Every class has a defined set for the number of IP addresses.

As the internet network grew, the numbers of usable IP addresses were getting exhausted at a faster pace. NAT was designed to the solve the IP depletion problem.

NAT definition

NAT stands for Network address translation. It is a technology which is commonly used such that systems on the Local area network can communicate with the Public network and vice versa.

In an organization, systems are deployed and configured in the LAN – Local area network. The LAN is the private network of the organization. The public network refers to the internet. Devices on the private network are not directly connected to the public network. The organization would use devices like routers, firewalls to provide public network access to the private network users.

IP address assignment for different regions is controlled by IANA – Internet assigned numbers Authority. IANA controls the assignment of public IP address to different regions which the authority has designated.

IP addresses are of two types, private and public IP addresses. Private IP addresses are configured and used by systems and devices which needs to communicate on a LAN environment. Public IP addresses are used by devices and systems which are on the public network, the internet. This comprises of websites which are hosted on the internet, ftp servers with public access, streaming websites etc...

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...ns in the TCP/IP stack .

[3] Lammle, Todd. (2007). Cisco Certified Network Associate. Indianapolis:

Wiley. Chapter 11, Page 670

[4] Matt Smith and Ray Hunt. (2002). Network Security using NAT and NAPT.

Christchurch: ieee.explore.ieee.org. Pages 5 to 9

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:t9S_Bt8aunoJ:www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/research/RG/inet_security.old/SmithHunt.pdf+Network+Security+using+NAT+and+NAPT.+filetype:pdf&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjuR6wAko1AbLxggCArnM1EdwTCdaW2H_9g0zw5CBQp3hEfzs_-dECMg4q2U01Fp_RrYrYx8VfcHIF-cHKp81s_jDJQNT8zUblvJonvmX2MQrwe2jvKA7DWkRpinaa-uOpeTpAt&sig=AHIEtbRhNyH2oSWJG_OjUwtqq540KN6B0g

[65] Lisa Phifer, Core Competence. The Trouble with NAT

http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac123/ac147/ac174/ac182/about_cisco_ipj_archive_article09186a00800c83ec.html

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