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network address translation
Sign in to saveAlso known as NAT, IP masquerading, source NAT, destination NAT, static NAT
protocol facilitating connection of one IP address space to another
~31 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Network address translation between a private network and the Internet
Network address translation (NAT) is a method of mapping an IP address space into another by modifying network address information in the IP header of packets while they are in transit across a traffic routing device. The technique was initially used to bypass the need to assign a new address to every host when a network was moved, or when the upstream Internet service provider was replaced but could not route the network's address space. It is a popular and essential tool in conserving global address space in the face of IPv4 address exhaustion. One Internet-routable IP address of a NAT gateway can be used for an entire private network.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “network address translation” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.