A separate network card is typically no longer required unless additional independent network connections are needed or some non-Ethernet type of network is used. The Ethernet capabilities are either integrated into the motherboard chipset or implemented via a low-cost dedicated Ethernet chip. Newer server motherboards may have multiple network interfaces built-in. The low cost and ubiquity of the Ethernet standard means that most new computers have a network interface controller built into the motherboard. Network controllers were originally implemented as expansion cards that plugged into a computer bus. The lower right-most card is an early wireless network card, and the central card with partial beige plastic cover is a PSTN modem. Implementation 12 early ISA 8 bit and 16 bit PC network cards. The NIC is both a physical layer and data link layer device, as it provides physical access to a networking medium and, for IEEE 802 and similar networks, provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC addresses that are uniquely assigned to network interfaces. The NIC allows computers to communicate over a computer network, either by using cables or wirelessly. This provides a base for a full network protocol stack, allowing communication among computers on the same local area network (LAN) and large-scale network communications through routable protocols, such as Internet Protocol (IP). The network controller implements the electronic circuitry required to communicate using a specific physical layer and data link layer standard such as Ethernet or Wi-Fi. 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. 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. Įarly network interface controllers were commonly implemented on expansion cards that plugged into a computer bus. 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.
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