NAT
The NAT concept is simple: it allows a single device to act as an Internet gateway for internal LAN clients by translating the clients' internal network IP Addresses into the IP Address on the NAT-enabled gateway device.
The NAT concept is simple: it allows a single device to act as an Internet gateway for internal LAN clients by translating the clients' internal network IP Addresses into the IP Address on the NAT-enabled gateway device.
In
other words, NAT runs on the device that's connected to the Internet and hides
the rest of your network from the public, thus making your whole network appear
as one device (or computer, if you like) to the rest of the world.
NAT is
transparent to your network, meaning all internal network devices are not
required to be reconfigured in order to access the Internet. All that's
required is to let your network devices know that the NAT device is the default
gateway to the Internet.
NAT is
secure since it hides your network from the Internet. All communications from
your private network are handled by the NAT device, which will ensure all the
appropriate translations are performed and provide a flawless connection
between your devices and the Internet.
The diagram
below illustrates this:
As you
can see, we have a simple network of 4 hosts (computers) and one router that
connects this network to the Internet. All hosts in our network have a private
Class C IP Address, including the router's private interface (192.168.0.1),
while the public interface that's connected to the Internet has a real IP
Address (203.31.220.134).
HOW NAT WORKS
