Managed NAT System Distributed Address Translation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional network address translation (NAT) systems in data centers are prone to failures and scalability issues, particularly when handling large numbers of communication connections, as they often rely on centralized devices that can become bottlenecks and single points of failure.
Innovation Solution
A managed NAT system that distributes network address and port translation across multiple computing instances, using either localized connection state management or a central connection-state tracking system to provide redundancy and scalability, allowing for efficient allocation and management of public network addresses and ports.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a centralized NAT device is used to translate network addresses, then the system is simple to manage and configure, but the system becomes a single point of failure and creates a bottleneck that limits scalability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the centralized NAT functionality into multiple distributed NAT instances across different computing devices. Each instance maintains local connection state tables, eliminating the single point of failure while distributing the translation workload. This segmentation allows the system to maintain reliability through redundancy while preserving management simplicity through centralized orchestration of the distributed instances.
2Device complexity
If a centralized NAT device is used to translate network addresses, then the system structure is simple, but the device cannot handle large numbers of connections efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the NAT functionality across multiple computing instances, with each instance handling a portion of the connection translation workload. This distribution of capacity allows the system to handle large numbers of connections efficiently while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized interfaces and centralized coordination of the segmented instances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimension centralized NAT architecture to a multi-dimensional distributed architecture where NAT instances are spread across multiple computing devices. This dimensional change from centralized to distributed deployment enables the system to scale connection handling capacity while keeping individual component complexity manageable.
3Ease of operation
If connection state is tracked centrally, then the system is easy to manage, but the central tracking system becomes a bottleneck and single point of failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the connection state tracking function by maintaining local connection state tables at each NAT instance rather than using a single central tracking system. Each NAT instance independently tracks its own connections, distributing the tracking capacity across multiple devices. This segmentation eliminates the bottleneck while centralized management mechanisms maintain ease of operation through coordinated control of the distributed state tables.
Data Source
AI summary
A technology is described for a managed NAT (Network Address Translation) system. An example method of the NAT system may include receiving a request to launch a NAT system for a computing network that includes a number of computing devices. The NAT system may be used to allocate network addresses and ports for computing instances executing on one or more host computing devices according to a NAT policy. The NAT policy may include specifications that may be obtained and used to determine allocation of network addresses to the computing instances. The NAT system may then be associated with the computing devices included in the computing network and the NAT policy may be applied among the computing devices.