<P> Network address translation (NAT) is a method of remapping one IP address space into another by modifying network address information in IP header of packets while they are in transit across a traffic routing device . The technique was originally used as a shortcut to avoid the need to readdress every host when a network was moved . It has become a popular and essential tool in conserving global address space in the face of IPv4 address exhaustion . One Internet - routable IP address of a NAT gateway can be used for an entire private network . </P> <P> IP masquerading is a technique that hides an entire IP address space, usually consisting of private IP addresses, behind a single IP address in another, usually public address space . The address that has to be hidden is changed into a single (public) IP address as "new" source address of the outgoing IP packet so it appears as originating not from the hidden host but from the routing device itself . Because of the popularity of this technique to conserve IPv4 address space, the term NAT has become virtually synonymous with IP masquerading . </P>

The purpose of network address translation (nat) is to
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