Patent ID: 8554946

Claim:
A network apparatus comprising a server agent configured to: connect a private network to a public network; access a mapping of private Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for servers on the private network to corresponding identifiers known to clients located outside the private network; receive a request message from a client located outside the private network, the request message being received via the public network over a first connection, the request message including a host identifier having a first portion that identifies the server agent to the public network and a second portion that identifies a selected server on the private network, the second portion of the host identifier being unknown to the public network; responsive to the request message, set up a second connection to the selected server on the private network, with no intermediate NAT router being included between the network apparatus and the selected server over the second connection; and send, over the second connection, the request message to the selected server identified by the second portion of the host identifier using the private IP address that maps to the second portion of the host identifier.