Network Address Translation or NAT, is a process of converting or translating a set of IP addresses to another set of IP addresses.
Benefits of NAT:
- Solve IPv4 exhaustion issue by conserving IP address space.
- Cost effective as can connect multiple devices to Internet without to purchase multiple public IP
- Enhance security by hiding the internal devices on a private network behind single public IP
- Simplifies network reconfiguration as internal IP are hidden from external networks
- Easy to manage and setup
Here are different types of NAT and its brief description
| Types of NAT | Description | Example |
| Static NAT | One to One Translation (Ports or IP) | One private IP to public IP |
| Dynamic NAT | Many to Many Translation (Pool) | A set of private IP addresses mapped to pool of public IP addresses |
| (PAT) Port Address Translation (NAT Overload) | Many to One (with Ports) | Mapped private IP addresses to one public IP but different port assigned to each private IP |
Here is the sample NAT configuration on Cisco Routers –> NAT Configuration on Cisco Routers (Static, Dynamic and NAT Overload)
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