Network interface controller: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Hardware component that connects a computer to a network}}A '''network interface controller''' ('''NIC''',<!--"Controller" is correct; once upon a time, they might all have been add-in cards, and called "network interface cards", but most of them are probably on the motherboard or in the SoC these days.--> also known as a '''network interface card''',<ref name="Dell"/> '''network adapter''', '''LAN adapter''' and '''physical network interface'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392944(v=ws.10).aspx|title=Physical Network Interface|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|date=January 7, 2009}}</ref>) is a [[computer hardware]] component that connects a [[computer]] to a [[computer network]].<ref name=networking_01>{{cite web

{{short description|Hardware component that connects a computer to a network}}

{{Redirect|Network card|the British Rail discount card|Network Railcard}}

Early network interface controllers were commonly implemented on [[expansion card]]scards 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]].

{{Infobox Computer Hardware Generic

| name = Network interface controller

| image = Network card.jpg

| caption = A 1990s [[Ethernet]] network interface card that connects to the motherboard via the now-obsolete [[ISA bus]]. This combination card features both a [[BNC connector]] (left) for use in (now obsolete) [[10BASE2]] networks and an [[8P8C]] connector (right) for use in [[10BASE-T]] networks.

| invent-date =

| invent-name =

| conn1 = [[Motherboard]]

| via1_1 = integrated in [[chipset]] or [[System on a chip|SoC]]

| via1_2 = [[motherboard#Integrated peripherals|discrete onboard]]

| via1_3 = [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] Connector

| via1_4 = [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] Connector

| via1_5 = [[PCIe]] (including [[Mini PCIe]] and [[M.2]])

| via1_6 = [[FireWire]]

| via1_7 = [[USB]]

| via1_8 = [[Thunderbolt (interface)|Thunderbolt]]

| conn2 = Network

| via2_1 = [[Ethernet]]

| via2_2 = [[Wi-Fi]]

| via2_3 = [[Fibre Channel]]

| via2_4 = [[Asynchronous Transfer Mode|ATM]]

| via2_5 = [[FDDI]]

| via2_6 = [[Token Ring]]

| via2_7 = [[ARCNET]]

| class-name = Speeds

| class1 = [[Full-duplex]] or [[half-duplex]]:

| class2 = {{bulleted list|10 Mbit/s|100 Mbit/s|1 Gbit/s}}

| class3 = [[Full-duplex]]:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Port speed and duplex mode configuration|url=http://docs.ruckuswireless.com/fastiron/08.0.70/fastiron-08070-managementguide/GUID-EDD7D44C-A627-4B76-A9FE-D7657FFF62D3.html|access-date=2020-09-25|website=docs.ruckuswireless.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Admin|first=Arista|date=2020-04-23|title=Section 11.2: Ethernet Standards - Arista|url=https://www.arista.com/en/um-eos/eos-section-11-2-ethernet-standards|access-date=2020-09-28|website=Arista Networks|language=en-gb}}</ref>

| class4 = {{bulleted list|2.5 Gbit/s|5 Gbit/s|10 Gbit/s|up to {{nowrap|160 Gbit/s}}}}

| manuf1 = [[Intel]]

| manuf2 = [[Realtek]]

| manuf3 = [[Broadcom]] (includes former [[Avago]], [[Emulex]])

| manuf4 = [[Marvell Technology Group]]

| manuf5 = [[Cavium]] (formerly [[QLogic]])

| manuf6 = [[Mellanox]]

| manuf7 = [[Chelsio]]

}}

Modern network interface controllers offer advanced features such as [[interrupt]] and [[Direct memory access|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]].

A '''network interface controller''' ('''NIC''',<!--"Controller" is correct; once upon a time, they might all have been add-in cards, and called "network interface cards", but most of them are probably on the motherboard or in the SoC these days.--> also known as a '''network interface card''',<ref name="Dell"/> '''network adapter''', '''LAN adapter''' and '''physical network interface'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392944(v=ws.10).aspx|title=Physical Network Interface|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|date=January 7, 2009}}</ref>) is a [[computer hardware]] component that connects a [[computer]] to a [[computer network]].<ref name=networking_01>{{cite web

|url = http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/networking-basics-part1.html

|title = Networking Basics: Part 1 - Networking Hardware

|author = Posey, Brien M.

|year = 2006

|work = Windowsnetworking.com

|publisher = TechGenix Ltd

|access-date = 2012-06-09

}}</ref>

Early network interface controllers were commonly implemented on [[expansion card]]s 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 [[Direct memory access|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]].

== Purpose ==