Network interface card

A Network Interface Card (NIC) is a computer hardware component that enables an electronic device to connect and interact with a computer network. It provides the physical connection between computer networks and an individual computer, server or network enabled device. Most modern NICs support various speeds from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps and above, depending on its capabilities, and perform various other functions including processing of incoming data, addressing data packets, routing data packets and error checking.

NICs may be either internal or external to a device. Internal cards are normally installed on the motherboard of a computer or network enabled device, while external ( Also known as an expansion NIC or peripheral) cards are connected via a USB connection, firewire, or other interface. Depending on the context, NICs may also be referred to as port adapters, modems, or network adapters.

NICs are a necessary component in Wired (Ethernet) or Wireless (Wi-Fi) networks, where they act as an interface for the computers on the network to communicate with each other. In particular, the NIC is responsible for providing a connection between the physical media (cable or wireless) and the “logical” layer of the network protocol stack. This includes processing of network protocol packets, IP addressing, error handling and other networking functions.

NICs are available in a variety of form factors, with the most common form factor being the PCI or PCIe card, with other form factors including those for USB, ExpressCard and Mini PCI Express. The selection of which form factor to use depends on the particular application and the requirements of the users.

In recent years, the development of “smart” NICs has been a major focus of research, as they have the potential to offload various computing processes from the processor and increase the performance of the network system as a whole. These smart NICs may be used to handle tasks such as packet filtering and SSL termination, as well as to perform storage, encryption and decoding tasks.