D-Link DI-206 Network Router User Manual


 
DI-206 ISDN Remote Router
50
The parameters are described as follows:
IP Address –
This is the IP address of the host you wish to define a static ARP
for.
MAC Address –
This is the physical address of the host that is the authorized
owner of the IP address.
State –
This toggles enable and disable.
NAT Configuration
Network Address Translation (NAT) is a routing protocol that allows your network
to become a
private
network that is isolated from, yet connected to the Internet. It
does this by changing the IP address of packets from a
global
IP address usable on
the Internet to a
local
IP address usable on your private network (but not on the
Internet) and vice versa.
NAT has two major benefits. First, NAT allows many users to access the Internet
using a small number or even a single global IP address. This can greatly reduce the
costs associated with Internet access and also helps alleviate the current shortage of
Internet IP addresses. Secondly, the NAT process creates a firewall which hides your
local network from Internet users, providing a degree of security to your Internet
connection.
To be successfully implemented, NAT should be used only when the majority of
network traffic remains on the local network. In cases where a large percentage of
network traffic is destined for the Internet, NAT can adversely affect the speed and
performance of your Internet connection. Also, your network servers such as ftp
servers, web servers or mail servers will probably need to be assigned
static
NAT IP
addresses so their IP addresses remain consistent. This issue will be further
discussed later.