Basic Hardware

What is a NIC?

A Network Interface Card (NIC), also called a Network Adapter, is used to connect a
computer to the cabling used in a local area network (LAN). Typically, the NIC attaches
to the computer’s expansion bus via an ISA slot (8-bit or 16-bit) or a PCI slot(32-bit).
The NIC has one or more external ports with which to attach the network cable.

The primary function of a NIC is to allow the computer to communicate on the network.
It does this by transmitting/receiving and controlling traffic with other computers or
devices on the network. When transmitting, the NIC converts data from parallel to serial,
encodes and compresses it, and then places it on the wire in the form of an electrical or
optical signal. The process is reversed on the receiving end. The NIC translates the
electrical signal it receives off the wire into bits that can be read by the computer.
Each NIC has a unique identifying MAC address hard-coded onto the card. In addition, a
NIC must have a network adapter driver that enables it to communicate with the network
protocols. (The network adapter driver is discussed under the section 'Network Driver
Standards: NDIS and ODI.') A NIC is specific to a particular type of LAN architecture
(e.g., Ethernet, Token Ring, or Fiber-Optic). It is possible to install more than one NIC in
the same computer.

Most NICs connect directly to a computer’s system bus via a 32-bit PCI slot or an 8-bit
or 16-bit ISA slot for older computers.

A NIC operates at the Physical layer, the lowest layer of the OSI model.

What is the MAC address?

Each network interface card (NIC) has a unique ‘MAC address’ assigned to it. The MAC
address, also
referred to as the ‘physical address,’ is a 6-byte (48-bit), hexadecimal serial number hard-
coded onto the card by the manufacturer.

A NIC manufacturer (e.g., Intel, 3Com, Cisco, etc.) must apply to the IEEE (institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers) for a block of addresses to assign to its cards. The
leftmost 3 octets of the address identify the manufacturer and the rightmost 3 octets
represent the unique serial number for the card.