NAT enables a system with a public IP address to route incoming connection requests to an internal RFC 1918 IP address, and vice versa.
Typically implemented in firewalls and routers, NAT allows multiple internal IP addresses to be represented by a single external IP address, using the destination port number to determine which internal server should receive the data. This facilitates communication between internal IP addresses and external systems.
Another common implementation of NAT allows internal IP addresses to access the internet using an external IP address. The NAT keeps track of connections from internal addresses to their destination addresses and forwards traffic accordingly. While NAT can be configured in various ways, this class will not delve into the specifics of those methods.
| Note: NAT provides network engineers with greater flexibility in their deployments, enabling a variety of use cases to develop. |