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CCNA 200-301 v1.1 reference — IP Services

NAT: inside source translation

Static NAT and dynamic pools for inside source translation, PAT overload behavior, and how to verify translations.

Objective 4.1v1.1 exam target

NAT terminology

Inside/outside describe location; local/global describe viewpoint.
TermMeaningExample
Inside localPrivate address of the inside host192.168.10.5
Inside globalPublic address representing that host203.0.113.10
Outside localOutside host's address as seen insideUsually same as outside global
Outside globalThe outside host's real address198.51.100.25

Inside/outside describe location; local/global describe viewpoint.

Inside source NAT forms

TypeMappingUse
Static NATOne inside local ↔ one inside global, permanentA server that must be reachable from outside
Dynamic NATPool of inside globals, assigned on demandMultiple hosts, limited public IPs
PAT (overload)Many locals → one global, distinguished by portThe everyday case — one public IP for the LAN
NAT pool without overload

Dynamic NAT using a public pool without PAT — Privileged EXEC → Global configuration

Cisco IOS / IOS XE

  • Inside/outside interface roles already configured; pool addresses reserved and routed for the lab; ACL 1 reviewed intentionally.
configure terminal
ip nat pool BRANCH 203.0.113.16 203.0.113.31 netmask 255.255.255.0
access-list 1 permit 192.168.10.0 0.0.0.255
ip nat inside source list 1 pool BRANCH
 end
Verify
show ip nat translations
show ip nat statistics
  • Translations map inside locals to pool addresses one-to-one — generate test traffic first.
  • An empty translation table has several possible causes — check ACL match (show access-lists counters), inside/outside roles, whether traffic actually crossed, and pool availability.
  • Without overload, the pool supports 16 simultaneous inside-address mappings; entries are freed for reuse after translation timeout. PAT (... pool BRANCH overload) is the common variant.

Changes device configuration.

Dynamic NAT with overload (PAT)

Translate the LAN to the outside interface address — Privileged EXEC → Global configuration

Cisco IOS / IOS XE

configure terminal
access-list 1 permit 192.168.10.0 0.0.0.255
ip nat inside source list 1 interface gigabitethernet0/1 overload
 end
Verify
show ip nat translations
show ip nat statistics
  • Entries show inside local addresses sharing one inside global with different ports.
  • Hits increment per new translated flow.
  • A named pool needs its own definition: ip nat pool BRANCH-PAT 203.0.113.10 203.0.113.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 before ip nat inside source list 1 pool BRANCH-PAT overload. Non-overload pool NAT (... pool BRANCH without overload) maps hosts one-to-one from the pool.

Changes device configuration.

PAT multiplexes many inside locals over one inside global by rewriting the source port as well — the router tracks each flow in the translation table. This is why thousands of hosts share one public IP, and why inbound connections to 'the public IP' fail without a static mapping or port forwarding.

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Targets CCNA 200-301 v1.1 objectives. Supplemental blocks are labeled beyond exam scope.

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