ZyXEL Communications NBG-419N - Manual (Page 141)

NBG-419N User’s Guide
141
C
H A P T E R
15
Network Address Translation
(NAT)
15.1 Overview
NAT (Network Address Translation - NAT, RFC 1631) is the translation of the IP
address of a host in a packet. For example, the source address of an outgoing
packet, used within one network is changed to a different IP address known within
another network.
Each packet has two addresses – a source address and a destination address. For
outgoing packets, NAT maps private (local) IP addresses to globally unique ones
required for communication with hosts on other networks. It replaces the original
IP source address in each packet and then forwards it to the Internet. The NBG-
419N keeps track of the original addresses and port numbers so incoming reply
packets can have their original values restored. The following figure illustrates
this.
Figure 92 NAT Example
For more information on IP address translation, refer to RFC 1631, The IP Network
Address Translator (NAT).