Network interface controller: Difference between revisions

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

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

{{Infobox Computer Hardware Generic

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''', '''network adapter''', '''LAN adapter''' and '''physical network interface''') is a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.

| 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]]

}}

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

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.

|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 cardscard]]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 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.

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 ==

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]].{{efn|Although other network technologies exist, Ethernet ([[IEEE 802.3]]) and Wi-Fi ([[IEEE 802.11]]) have achieved near-ubiquity as LAN technologies since the mid-1990s.}} 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 NIC allows computers to communicate over a computer network, either by using cables or wirelessly. 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 addressesaddress]]es that are uniquely assigned to network interfaces.

== Implementation ==