How does network address translation (NAT) assign external addresses to internal devices?

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Network Address Translation (NAT) essentially functions as a way for internal devices on a private network to communicate with external networks, such as the internet. The correct choice indicates that NAT assigns an internal address to one of a pool of external addresses, which is the key mechanism behind how NAT provides address conservation and facilitates communication.

In a typical NAT configuration, multiple internal devices share a limited number of public IP addresses that are assigned by the Internet Service Provider (ISP). When an internal device wants to communicate with an external server, NAT records the request and maps the internal device’s private IP address to one of the public IP addresses from the pool. This allows for efficient use of external addresses, as many internal devices can use the same external address at different times or can be differentiated through different port mappings.

This process involves maintaining a translation table that records which internal addresses correspond to which external addresses. When the response comes back from the external network, NAT checks this table and translates the external address back to the appropriate internal address, ensuring the response is sent to the correct device.

The other options do not accurately reflect how NAT functions. Assigning one specific external address to an internal address doesn't account for the multiple devices sharing that address. Randomly assigning an external

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