Which statement best describes NAT's purpose?

• A. Encrypts traffic end-to-end
• B. Schedules traffic on a link
• C. Conserves public IP addresses by allowing private addresses inside a local network
• D. Provides DNS resolution

Answer: (C)

NAT is primarily about conserving public IP addresses by letting devices on a private network share a single or a few public addresses when accessing the Internet. In practice, a router sits at the boundary; devices inside use private IPs, and NAT translates each outgoing packet’s source address (and often port) to the router’s public IP. It keeps a mapping so responses come back to the correct internal device. This lets many devices reach the Internet without every device needing a unique public IP. NAT isn’t about encryption, DNS resolution, or traffic scheduling, so those functions are handled elsewhere.