Cisco IPv6 Training NAT-PT
What is NAT-PT?
By Charles Ross CCNP #CSCO10444244
I know all of you die hard IPv6 enthusiasts already know what the acronym NAT-PT stands for, so this article is for the IPv6 new comers.
NAT-PT stands for “Network Address Translation - Protocol Translation” it is an IPv6-IPv4 translation mechanism, which was designed (created) to allow IPv6-only devices communicate with IPv4-only devices and vice versa.
Cisco’s basic operation of the NAT-PT consists of three items:
The IPv6 only device (node) that is located on a IPv6 only network
The IPv4 only device (node) that is located on a IPv4 only network
And, the Cisco NAT-PT router that is located in between both network only devices and is doing the protocol translating.
NAT-PT is mainly used by organizations (companies) as a short-term fix; until they are completely ready to migrate to IPv6.
The best advantage of using Cisco’s version of NAT-PT is that only the Cisco NAT-PT router needs to configured; the IPv4 and IPv6 network only devices involved are totally clueless that NAT-PT is happening between them. Cisco recommends that you never allow a Cisco NAT-PT router perform NAT-PT between Dual Stack devices.
The major downfall of using Cisco’s version of NAT-PT is that you have a single point of failure, the Cisco NAT-PT router itself. This is why Cisco recommends that the NAT-PT solution only be used for a short amount of time, until a long term solution can be achieved.
Currently, Cisco NAT-PT can be implemented in four ways:
Static NAT-PT
Dynamic NAT-PT
Port Address Translation (PAT) a.k.a. Overload
IPv4-Mapped Operation
To your success,
Charles Ross
CCNP #CSCO10444244