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Re: Number of Firewall/NAT Users

2001-01-20 16:20:04
    > From: "Jim McMurry" <jim(_at_)mediatonic(_dot_)com>

    > Then it seems we will have to create an ever expanding bandwidth to
    > support all the overhead associated with NAT and these multiple layers.
    > If not we could wind up with OC-192's that feel like 56k modems :(

I'm kind of confused. Perhaps you can enlighten me.

Exactly how does use of NAT use bandwidth? The packets are the same size, no?
I can't see how NAT has any effect on the effective throughput of the links
(which is the element you seem to be alluding to with your reference to
OC-192's).

It is true that a NAT box is a somewhat more complex switching device, but
depending on a large number of factors, including exactly which protocols it
supports, and how, along with the implementation technology used (people seem
to be happy to throw 100K's of transistors at switching boxes these days),
NAT may or may not have any effect on the throughput of the box.

Which is not to say I'm happy about the concept of nested NAT boxes, but let's
keep our analysis grounded in reality, eh?

        Noel