What type of NAT uses dynamically assigned IP addresses?

• A. Static NAT
• B. Dynamic NAT
• C. Port Address Translation (PAT)
• D. Private NAT

Answer: (B)

Dynamic NAT is a technique where a pool of public IP addresses is used to assign an IP address to a device on the internal network whenever it needs to access the internet. This means that the internal devices are assigned public IP addresses dynamically from this pool based on demand. When a device connects, it can be temporarily assigned any available public IP address from the pool, allowing multiple devices to share a smaller number of public IP addresses.

This dynamic assignment contrasts with Static NAT, where a fixed public IP address is always mapped to a specific internal device, maintaining the same address consistently. Port Address Translation (PAT), often used alongside dynamic NAT, allows multiple devices on a local network to be mapped to a single public IP address but distinguishes between them using port numbers, while Private NAT isn’t a standard term in networking. Dynamic NAT therefore provides flexibility and efficient use of public IP addresses, which is particularly important in environments where the number of internal devices exceeds the available public IPs.