SonicOS 8 Rules and Policies for Classic Mode

About NAT64

SonicOS supports the NAT64 feature that enables an IPv6-only client to contact an IPv4-only server through an IPv6-to-IPv4 translation device known as a NAT64 translator. NAT64 provides the ability to access legacy IPv4-only servers from IPv6 networks; a SonicWall with NAT64 is placed as the intermediary router.

As a NAT64 translator, SonicOS allows an IPv6-only client from any zone to initiate communication to an IPv4-only server with proper route configuration. SonicOS maps IPv6 addresses to IPv4 addresses so IPv6 traffic changes to IPv4 traffic and vice versa. IPv6 address pools (represented as address objects) and IPv4 address pools are created to allow mapping by translating packet headers between IPv6 and IPv4. The IPv4 addresses of IPv4 hosts are translated to and from IPv6 addresses by using an IPv6 prefix configured in SonicOS.

The DNS64 translator enables NAT64. Either an IPv6 client must configure a DNS64 server or the DNS server address the IPv6 client gets automatically from the gateway must be a DNS64 server. The DNS64 server of an IPv6-only client creates AAAA (IPv6) records with A (IPv4) records. SonicOS does not act as a DNS64 server.

Currently, NAT64:

  • Only translates Unicast packets carrying TCP, UDP, and ICMP traffic.
  • Supports FTP and TFTP application-layer protocol streams, but does not support H.323, MSN, Oracle, PPTP, RTSP, and RealAudio application-layer protocol streams.
  • Does not support IPv4-initiated communications to a subset of the IPv6 hosts.
  • Does not support Stateful High Availability.

For NAT64 traffic matches, two mixed connection caches are created. Thus, the capacity for NAT64 connection caches is half that for pure IPv4 or IPv6 connections.

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