ZyXEL Communications nbg-418n User Manual

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 Chapter 10 Network Address Translation
NBG-418N User’s Guide
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The global IP addresses for the inside hosts can be either static or dynamically assigned by the ISP. 
In addition, you can designate servers, for example, a web server and a telnet server, on your local 
network and make them accessible to the outside world. If you do not define any servers , NAT 
offers the additional benefit of firewall protection. With no servers defined, your NBG-418N filters 
out all incoming inquiries, thus preventing intruders from probing your network. For more 
information on IP address translation, refer to RFC 1631The IP Network Address Translator (NAT).
How NAT Works
Each packet has two addresses – a source address and a destination address. For outgoing packets, 
the ILA (Inside Local Address) is the source address on the LAN, and the IGA (Inside Global 
Address) is the source address on the WAN. For incoming packets, the ILA is the destination 
address on the LAN, and the IGA is the destination address on the WAN. 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-418N 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 73   
How NAT Works
10.3  General NAT Screen
Use this screen to enable NAT and set a default server. Click Network > NAT to open the General 
screen.
Figure 74   
Network > NAT > General