4
Address Translation
75
Limitations on the number of NAT Flows
Approximately
64,500
simultaneous
NAT
flows
are
possible
if
a
“flow”
is
considered
to
be
a
unique
pair
of
IP
addresses
and
different
port
numbers
are
not
used
or
the
same
destination
port
is
used.
For
example,
if
a
remote
server
demands
that
all
flows
are
to
a
single
destination
port,
this
limit
will
apply.
However,
since
there
is
a
possible
range
of
64,500
source
ports
and
the
same
number
for
destination
ports,
it
is
theoretically
possible
to
have
over
4
billion
flows
between
two
IP
addresses
if
all
ports
are
used.
Source IP address used for translation
There
are
two
options
for
how
the
SEG
determines
the
source
IP
address
that
will
be
used
for
NAT:
•
Use
the
IP
address
of
the
interface
When
a
new
flow
is
established,
the
routing
table
is
consulted
to
resolve
the
outbound
interface
for
the
flow.
The
IP
address
of
that
resolved
interface
is
then
used
as
the
new
source
IP
address
when
the
SEG
performs
the
address
translation.
This
is
the
default
way
that
the
IP
address
is
determined.
•
Define
a
specific
IP
address
A
specific
IP
address
can
be
defined
as
the
new
source
IP
address.
The
specified
IP
address
needs
to
have
a
matching
ARP
Publish
entry
configured
for
the
outbound
interface.
Otherwise,
the
return
traffic
will
not
be
received
by
the
SEG.
This
technique
might
be
used
when
the
source
IP
is
different
based
on
the
source
of
the
traffic.
For
example,
an
ISP
that
is
using
NAT
might
use
different
IP
addresses
for
different
customers.
Applying NAT translation
The
following
example
illustrates
how
NAT
is
applied
in
practice
on
a
new
flow:
1. The
sender,
192.168.1.5,
sends
a
packet
from
a
dynamically
assigned
port,
1038,
to
server
195.55.66.77
on
port
80.
192.168.1.5:1038
=>
195.55.66.77:80
2. In
this
example,
the
Use
Interface
Address
option
is
used,
and
195.11.22.33
is
the
interface
address.
In
addition,
the
source
port
is
changed
to
a
random
free
port
on
the
SEG
that
is
above
port
1024.
In
this
example,
port
32789
is
chosen.
The
packet
is
then
sent
to
its
destination.
195.11.22.33:32789
=>
195.55.66.77:80
3. The
recipient
server
then
processes
the
packet
and
sends
its
response.
195.55.66.77:80
=>
195.11.22.33:32789