Static (map) NAT

Static (map) network address translation (NAT) provides a one-to-one mapping of private IP addresses to public IP addresses. It allows you to map an IP address on your internal network to an IP address that you want to make public.

Static NAT allows communication to be initiated from your internal network or an external network, like the Internet. It is especially useful if you have a system within your internal network that you want to allow public users to access. In this case, you need to create a NAT rule that maps the actual system address to a public address. The public address becomes external information. This ensures that private information remains out of the hands of someone who might attack your systems.

The following list highlights the features of static NAT:

It is a one-to-one mapping.
It can be initiated by the external and internal network.
The address you associate or map to can be any address.
The address you associate or map to becomes unusable as an IP interface.
Do not use port-mapped NAT.

Attention: Use static NAT with caution if you decide to map a personal computer to the well-known address of the IBM® i platform. The well-known address is the IP address reserved for most Internet and intranet traffic. If you do map to this IP address, NAT will translate and send all traffic to the internal private address. Because this interface is reserved for NAT, your system and the interface become unusable.