What is the primary function of Network Address Translation (NAT) in a typical organization network?

What is the primary function of Network Address Translation (NAT) in a typical organization network?

• A. NAT maps private IP addresses to a public IP address, commonly used for outbound internet access from a private LAN.
• B. NAT translates between domain names and IP addresses.
• C. NAT maintains a table of all internal hostnames for quick lookup.
• D. NAT automatically assigns IP addresses via DHCP.

Answer: (A)

NAT’s primary function is to allow devices on a private network to reach the public Internet by translating private IP addresses to a public IP address (and often port numbers) at the network edge. This lets many internal hosts share a single or small set of public addresses while their responses are routed back correctly through the NAT device. The NAT device keeps a translation state so that responses from the Internet can be mapped back to the original internal host and port. This isn’t about domain-name resolution (that’s DNS), nor about maintaining a directory of internal hostnames, and it doesn’t assign IP addresses to devices (that’s DHCP).

NAT’s primary function is to allow devices on a private network to reach the public Internet by translating private IP addresses to a public IP address (and often port numbers) at the network edge. This lets many internal hosts share a single or small set of public addresses while their responses are routed back correctly through the NAT device. The NAT device keeps a translation state so that responses from the Internet can be mapped back to the original internal host and port.

This isn’t about domain-name resolution (that’s DNS), nor about maintaining a directory of internal hostnames, and it doesn’t assign IP addresses to devices (that’s DHCP).