This object is an 'alias' name for the NAT instance as specified by a network manager, and provides a non-volatile 'handle' for the instance. On the first instantiation of a NAT instance, the value of natInstanceAlias associated with that instance is the zero-length string. As and when a value is written into an instance of natInstanceAlias through a network management set operation, then the agent must retain the supplied value in this obejct instance associated with the same interface for as long as that NAT instance remains instantiated, including across all re-initializations/reboots of the network management system, including those which result in a change of the interface's natInstanceIndex value. An example of the value which a network manager might store in this object for a NAT instance is the name/identifier of the interface that brings in internal traffic for this NAT instance or the name of the VRF for internal traffic. An agent may choose to provide read-only access if the agent itself assigns an identifier for the NAT instance. An agent which supports write access to this object is required to keep the value in non-valite storage, but it may limit the length of new values depending on how much storage is already occupied by the current values for other NAT instances.