Re: What is NAT?

On 24 jul, 02:57, Lew Pitcher <lpitc...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Randy Yates wrote:
Can someone please (without asking me to Google) explain simply and
plainly what NAT is?

Is it, basically, the mechanism that my router uses to forward TCP or
UDP packets that come in to my router from the ISP to a specific machine
on my internal network (and vice-versa)?

Not really, although NAT is typically used in a router for that purpose.

NAT is an acronym for "Network Address Translation". With NAT, individual
nodes can have different IP addresses on one side of a router than they have
on the other side.

It is simply the mapping of an IP address to a new IP address.

--
Lew Pitcher

Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | Registered Linux User #112576http://pitcher.digitalfreehold.ca/ | GPG public key available by request
---------- Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing. ------

in google:
define: NAT
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3A+nat&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=mozilla&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:unofficial

You get a list of short explanations of the term you are looking for,
and tons of links if you want more detailed info. It takes about 2
minutes and you can dig as deep as you want... don't know if the
define stuff works with other search engines.

Since you don't like to use google, I paste the top 4:

# In computer networking, network address translation (NAT, also known
as network masquerading or IP-masquerading) is a technique in which
the source and/or destination addresses of IP packets are rewritten as
they pass through a router or firewall. It is most commonly used to
enable multiple hosts on a private network to access the Internet
using a single public IP address. According to specifications, routers
should not act in this way, but it is a convenient and widely-used
technique. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAT

# An Internet standard that enables a local-area network (LAN) to use
one set of IP addresses for internal traffic usually private addresses
and a second set of public addresses for external traffic. A NAT box/
router/firewall is located where the LAN meets the Internet makes all
necessary IP address translations.
dedicated.sbcis.sbc.com/NDWS/faq/terms.jsp

# Network Address Translation (NAT) is the translation of an Internet
Protocol (IP) address used within one network to a different IP
address known within another network. One network is designated as the
inside network and the other is the outside.
www.streamium.com/support/glossary.cfm

# (Network Address Translation). A networking protocol that allows
network of private IP address to be set up using a single real IP
address. Using NAT, a local area network (LAN) can be set up with no
special configuration of the Internet connection. To the Internet, the
network looks like one computer, but on the LAN, each computer has its
own internal IP address.
www.indra.com/support/glossary.html

.

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