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Networking Intermediate

What is NAT (Network Address Translation)?

A method of mapping private IP addresses to public IP addresses, allowing multiple devices to share a single public IP.

NAT allows devices on a private network to access the internet through a shared public IP address. Your home router performs NAT, translating private addresses (192.168.x.x) to your public IP for outgoing traffic.

Types include Static NAT (one-to-one), Dynamic NAT (pool of public IPs), and PAT/NAPT (port-based, most common). NAT also provides a basic security layer by hiding internal network structure.

Related Terms

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)
A network protocol used for diagnostic and error reporting, including ping and traceroute functionality.
HTTP Keep-Alive
An HTTP mechanism that reuses a single TCP connection for multiple requests, reducing the overhead of establishing new connections.
SDN (Software-Defined Networking)
An approach that separates the network control plane from the data plane, enabling centralized, programmable network management.
Port
A numbered endpoint (0-65535) that identifies specific processes or services on a networked computer for communication.
QoS (Quality of Service)
A set of techniques for managing network traffic to prioritize certain types of data and ensure performance for critical applications.
Firewall
A network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing traffic based on predetermined rules.
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