"A network interface controller (NIC, also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter or physical network interface, and by similar terms) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network."
An expansion card that is inserted into a computer so that it can be connected to a network, providing the device with a unique MAC address.
Network Interface Card (NIC): An introduction to what a network interface card is, its purpose, and how it operates.
Bus Architecture: An overview of bus architecture types, including PCI, PCIe, AGP, ISA, and others, used in network interface cards.
Network Topologies: Understanding the different network topologies such as bus, mesh, star, ring networks, and how NICs are used in each of these.
Network Protocols: Understanding the different network protocols such as TCP, UDP, IP, and how NICs interact with them.
Transceivers and Signals: An introduction to the different types of transceivers used in NICs, including coaxial, fiber optic, and copper cabling.
Network Standards: Understanding the network standards such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and how NICs conform to these standards.
Device Driver: Understanding device drivers and how they are used in NICs to communicate with the operating system.
MAC Address: Understanding MAC addresses and how they are used in NICs to identify devices on a local network.
Host-Based vs. Network-Based NICs: Understanding the difference between host-based and network-based network interface cards, and their respective capabilities.
NIC Performance: An overview of NIC performance metrics such as throughput, latency, and bandwidth, and how they affect network performance.
NIC Troubleshooting: Various techniques for troubleshooting NIC-related issues such as connectivity, driver, and configuration issues.
NIC Security: Understanding security considerations for NICs, including MAC spoofing, denial-of-service attacks, and network intrusion detection.
Advanced NIC Features: An overview of advanced features found in high-end NICs such as jumbo frames, flow control, TCP offloading, and others.
NIC Virtualization: An introduction to NIC virtualization technologies such as SR-IOV, VMQ, and vNIC, and their use cases.
NIC Trends and Future Developments: An overview of emerging trends and future developments in NIC technology, including 5G wireless, NVMe over Fabrics, and advancements in virtualization technology.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect): PCI is a standard bus used to connect peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. A PCI NIC card provides high-speed connectivity and is commonly used in desktop computers.
PCI Express (PCIe): PCIe is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard used for connecting various hardware devices to a computer's motherboard. A PCIe NIC card provides faster data transfer rates than PCI.
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture): ISA is an older bus standard used to connect peripherals to the computer's motherboard. ISA NIC cards are outdated and not commonly used anymore.
EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture): EISA is an improved version of the ISA bus and provides higher data transfer rates. EISA NIC cards have largely been replaced by PCI.
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port): AGP is a specialized high-speed bus designed for graphics cards. AGP NIC cards are not commonly used and have been replaced by faster PCIe.
USB (Universal Serial Bus): USB is a common standard for connecting peripherals to a computer. A USB NIC card provides network connectivity through a USB port, commonly used in laptops or devices without built-in Ethernet ports.
Ethernet: An Ethernet NIC card is a computer hardware component that provides network connectivity through an Ethernet cable or port.
Wireless NIC: A wireless NIC, also known as a WLAN card, provides wireless network connectivity using various wireless standards such as Wi-Fi.
Fiber channel NIC: A Fiber channel NIC Card is designed to support high-speed network transmission using fiber-optic cable to provide high bandwidth connection.
Infiniband NIC: Infiniband NIC Cards is used in high-performance computing applications such as data center and HPC clusters.
Co-processor NICs: Co-processor NICs is designed to offload network processing tasks from the CPU and provide high-performance network connectivity.
Cluster NICs: Cluster NICs or HPC NICs, are used in HPC clusters or Grid computing applications to connect various nodes and provide high-performance communication.
iSCSI NIC: ISCSI NICs provides connectivity to storage over IP networks and used in SAN environments.
FCoE NIC: FCoE NICs are developed to combine the benefits of both Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Ethernet to provide high-performance storage networking.
NIC teaming: NIC teaming is a technique used to combine multiple NICs and provides high availability, load balancing and fault-tolerance.
"Early network interface controllers were commonly implemented on expansion cards that plugged into a computer bus."
"The low cost and ubiquity of the Ethernet standard means that most newer computers have a network interface built into the motherboard, or is contained into a USB-connected dongle."
"Modern network interface controllers offer advanced features such as interrupt and DMA interfaces to the host processors, support for multiple receive and transmit queues, partitioning into multiple logical interfaces, and on-controller network traffic processing such as the TCP offload engine."
"Also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter or physical network interface."
"A network interface controller (NIC) is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network."
"A network interface controller (NIC) connects a computer to a computer network."
"Most newer computers have a network interface built into the motherboard."
"[The network interface controller] is contained into a USB-connected dongle."
"[The network interface controller is] also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter or physical network interface."
"Modern network interface controllers offer advanced features such as interrupt and DMA interfaces to the host processors."
"Modern network interface controllers...support for multiple receive and transmit queues, partitioning into multiple logical interfaces, and on-controller network traffic processing such as the TCP offload engine."
"A network interface controller connects a computer to a computer network."
"Early network interface controllers were commonly implemented on expansion cards that plugged into a computer bus."
"The low cost and ubiquity of the Ethernet standard means that most newer computers have a network interface built into the motherboard."
"Modern network interface controllers offer...on-controller network traffic processing such as the TCP offload engine."
"Modern network interface controllers offer advanced features such as interrupt and DMA interfaces to the host processors...support for multiple receive and transmit queues, partitioning into multiple logical interfaces..."
"[The network interface controllers are] also known as a network interface card, network adapter, LAN adapter or physical network interface."
"Most newer computers have a network interface built into the motherboard, or [the network interface controller] is contained into a USB-connected dongle."
"Modern network interface controllers offer advanced features such as interrupt and DMA interfaces to the host processors."