Routing And Switching Questions
Static NAT and dynamic NAT are both methods used in network address translation (NAT) to allow devices on a private network to communicate with devices on a public network, such as the internet.
The main difference between static NAT and dynamic NAT lies in how the translation of IP addresses is performed.
Static NAT, also known as one-to-one NAT, involves manually mapping a single private IP address to a single public IP address. This means that a specific private IP address is always translated to the same public IP address. Static NAT is typically used when a device on the private network needs to be accessible from the public network, such as hosting a web server or an email server.
On the other hand, dynamic NAT involves mapping a range of private IP addresses to a pool of public IP addresses. The translation of IP addresses is done dynamically based on the availability of public IP addresses in the pool. Each time a device from the private network initiates a connection to the public network, it is assigned a public IP address from the pool. Once the connection is terminated, the public IP address is returned to the pool for reuse. Dynamic NAT is commonly used when there are more devices on the private network than available public IP addresses.
In summary, static NAT provides a one-to-one mapping of private IP addresses to public IP addresses, while dynamic NAT allows for a range of private IP addresses to be dynamically translated to a pool of public IP addresses.