Aadressitõlkimist

Aadressitõlkimine, or address translation, refers to the process of converting one network address into another. This is a fundamental concept in computer networking, particularly for managing IP addresses and enabling communication between different network segments. The most common form of address translation is Network Address Translation (NAT). NAT allows multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address when communicating with the internet. This is achieved by modifying the IP address and sometimes the port number in the packet headers as they pass through a NAT device, such as a router.

When a device on a private network sends a request to a public server, the NAT device replaces the device's private IP address with its own public IP address. It also typically modifies the source port number. The NAT device maintains a translation table to keep track of these mappings. When the response from the public server arrives, the NAT device uses its translation table to look up the original destination device and forwards the packet accordingly, translating the public IP address and port back to the private IP address and port. This mechanism conserves public IP addresses and enhances network security by hiding the internal structure of a private network.

Beyond NAT, other forms of address translation exist, such as DNS (Domain Name System) translation, which converts human-readable domain names into numerical IP addresses. While the term "aadressitõlkimine" can encompass various translation processes, in the context of network infrastructure, it most frequently refers to NAT operations.