Configure and Verify NAT

Introduction

The Configure and Verify NAT module provide you with the instructions and Cisco hardware to develop your hands on skills in configuring NAT on Cisco routers. This module includes exercises that will cover the following topics:

• Configuring Static and Dynamic NAT
• Configuring Port Address Translation
• Examining troubleshooting methods for NAT and PAT

Exercise 1 - Configuring Static and Dynamic NAT

In this exercise, you will learn how to configure both dynamic and static network address translation (NAT). As you will have learned in your study material, NAT modifies either the source or destination (or both) IP address as a packet traverses a router’s interfaces. NAT can help resolve a number of different issues, the most commonly mentioned of which is the exhaustion of the IPv4 addressing space. It is most commonly used when connecting to the Internet.

Exercise 2 - Configuring PAT for an ISP Connection

In the previous exercise, you configured both static and dynamic NAT. Although both are very useful to know how to configure, PAT is by far the most commonly configured translation method. This is because if you are using IPv4 and you are connecting to the Internet, it is almost a requirement today to use PAT because of the lack of free routable IP addresses available.

In this exercise, you will configure Port Address Translation to allow users on the LAN to connect to the Internet.