Computer Science – Network hardware | e-Consult
Network hardware (1 questions)
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A router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. It examines the destination IP address of each packet and determines the best path to send the packet towards its destination. Routers use routing tables to make these decisions.
Network Address Translation (NAT) is a technique used to translate private IP addresses to a public IP address when devices on a private network communicate with the internet. It allows multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address.
NAT is used for several reasons:
- Address Conservation: NAT allows many devices to share a limited number of public IP addresses, conserving the IPv4 address space.
- Security: NAT provides a degree of security by hiding the internal IP addresses of devices on a private network from the outside world. External devices only see the public IP address of the router.
- Simplified Network Administration: NAT simplifies network administration by allowing changes to the internal network without requiring changes to the public IP addresses.
Here's a table summarizing the key aspects of NAT:
| Function | Description |
| Address Translation | Translates private IP addresses to public IP addresses. |
| Address Conservation | Allows multiple devices to share a single public IP address. |
| Security | Hides internal IP addresses from the outside world. |