Network address translator
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
A network address translator (NAT) is a device, or often a software function, which maps Internet Protocol addresses between two different address spaces, most often, in an Internet Protocol version 4 context, the nonroutable "private" address space and the "public" space in which Internet Service Providers communicate.
Introduced in 1994, a NAT is a controlled violation of the "end-to-end" architectural principle of the Internet, which assumes addresses are unique from end host to end host. [1] While NAT functions have been extremely useful, they also have created a variety of operational challenges, and one of the goals in developing Internet Protocol version 6 was to do away with the need for NAT service.
- ↑ K. Egevang, P. Francis. (May 1994), The IP Network Address Translator (NAT), RFC1631