Share this
What is a NIC Card (Network Interface Card)?
by Christopher Trick on Apr 12, 2022 3:05:53 PM
Many computers are equipped with NIC (network interface controller) cards to operate as a link between the computer and the network to streamline communication and share resources.
In this blog, you'll learn more about how NIC cards help enhance networking and processing capabilities to maximize efficiency and ensure optimal performance.
What is a NIC card?
A NIC (network interface controller) card, also known as a network adaptor or network interface card, is a circuit board that is installed on a computer to connect to the network.
A NIC card works as an indispensable component for the network connection of computers, helping to better communication between data communication equipment (DCE).
NIC cards are commonly found in most computers and some network servers. They contain electrical circuitry in line with data link and physical layer standards, including a port to connect to the local area network's (LAN) medium.
Each communicating device (node) on a LAN must have at least one NIC card.
How does a NIC card work?
Operating as an interface, a NIC card can transmit signals at the physical layer and deliver data packets at the network layer.
Irrespective of location, the NIC card acts as a middleman between a computer, or server, and a data network.
When a user requests a web page, the LAN card gets data from the user device, sends it to the server via the Internet, and gets the required data back from the Internet to display for users.
What are the components of a NIC card?
There are six primary components of a NIC card:
- Controller: The controller is like a mini CPU, processing data that is received. As a core part of a network adapter, the controller directly decides its performance.
- Boot ROM (Read-only memory) socket: This socket on the card enables boot ROM capability, which permanently stores instructions for the computer. Boot ROM allows workstations without a disk to connect to the network, increasing security and lowering the cost of hardware.
- NIC port for the cable/transceiver: Usually, this port will connect with an Ethernet cable for the transceiver directly, which can generate and receive the electronic signals that are put on the network cable or fiber cable.
- BUS interface: This interface is on the side of the circuit board, which serves as the connection between the NIC and computer or server via being plugged into their expansion slot.
- LED indicators: Indicators are used to help users identify the working status of a network card, as in whether there is a connection between the card and the network.
- Profile bracket: There are two types of profile brackets in the market. One is called the full-height bracket with a length of 12 cm, and the other is the low-profile bracket with a length of 8 cm. This bracket can help users fix the NIC in the expansion slot of a computer or server.
What are the types of NIC cards?
NIC cards are classified into different types based on different features like host interface, transmission speed, and application fields.
There are five different types of classifications:
Network Connection Based Classifications
Based on the way the NIC card accesses the network, the card can either be wired or wireless.
A wired NIC usually connects a node onto a network with an Ethernet or fiber optic cable; a wireless NIC often comes with a small antenna, which uses radio waves to communicate with the access point to get involved in a wireless network.
Bus Interfaces Based Classifications
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
ISA was developed in 1981, which was a standard bus architecture for IBM compatibilities. Due to the low card speed of 9Mbp/s (megabits per second), the ISA bus interface is no longer a recognized type and hard to find in today's stores.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
PCI was developed in 1990 to replace ISA. It has a fixed width of 32 bit and 64 bit. This type of NIC card was first used in servers and later on gradually applied to PCs.
Most PCs today do not have expansion cards, but rather devices integrated into the motherboard. As a result, PCI has been replaced by other bus interfaces, like PCI-X or USB interface.
PCI-X (Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtended)
PCI-X is an enhanced PCI bus technology. It operates at 64 bit and is capable of up to 1064 MB/s. In many cases, PCI-X is backward compatible with PCI NIC cards.
PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express)
PCIe is the latest standard and now is popular on computer and server motherboards. PCIe is available in five versions, and each version supports five types of lanes at different speeds.
USB (Universal Serial Bus)
USB is an external bus standard. It has three versions with different data rates and can work together with a variety of devices. In addition, the wireless network card is also a type of NIC Card.
Port Type Based Classifications
According to different cables connected, four types of NIC ports can be found in the market.
An RJ-45 port is used to connect with twisted pair cables; an AUI port is used for a thick coaxial cable; a BNC port is used for a thin coaxial cable; an optical port is used for a transceiver.
Transmission Speed Based Classifications
There are 10Mbp/s, 100Mbp/s, 10/100 Mbp/s adaptive card, 1000Mbp/s, 10GbE, 25G or even higher speed network cards on the market.
10Mbp/s, 100Mbp/s, and 10/100MB/s adaptive NIC cards are suitable for small LAN, home uses or day-to-day offices; 1000Mbp/s NIC cards provide a higher bandwidth in the Gigabit network.
10Gb, 25Gb, or high speed NIC cards are used by large enterprises or data centers.
Application Fields Based Classifications
Computer NIC card
Most new computers today have NIC cards built into the motherboard, so a separate LAN card is not needed. It commonly comes with 10/100Mbp/s and 1Gbp/s speed, and it allows one PC to communicate with other PCs or networks.
Server network card
The main functions of a server network card is to manage and handle network traffic. Compared with the ordinary PC network adapter, server adapters usually require fast data transmission speed like 10G, 25G, 40G, and even 100G.
In addition, server adapters have low CPU occupancy rate, since it has a special network controller that can take many tasks from the CPU.
SmartNICs
SmartNICs are a type of NIC card that offloads tasks from a host server's CPU, reducing workloads and providing additional capabilities like security and storage. Read more about SmartNICs here.
Conclusion
At Trenton, our high-performance compute solutions are able to support components like NIC cards that enhance networking power.
We create the most powerful networking and processing integrated solutions to increase speeds and feeds for radar, electronic warfare (EW), signal intelligence (SIGINT), communication intelligence (COMINT), and electronic intelligence (ELINT) applications using NVIDIA ConnectX-7 SmartNICs, next generation Intel Dual Xeon-SP CPUs, and PCIe 5.0.
Through the use of these interconnected devices, we ensure the rapid transfer of data and improved communication between data communication equipment to deliver actionable insights at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels.
Source:Share this
- High-performance computers (42)
- Military computers (38)
- Rugged computers (32)
- Cybersecurity (25)
- Industrial computers (25)
- Military servers (24)
- MIL-SPEC (20)
- Rugged servers (19)
- Press Release (17)
- Industrial servers (16)
- MIL-STD-810 (16)
- 5G Technology (14)
- Intel (13)
- Rack mount servers (12)
- processing (12)
- Computer hardware (11)
- Edge computing (11)
- Rugged workstations (11)
- Made in USA (10)
- Partnerships (9)
- Rugged computing (9)
- Sales, Marketing, and Business Development (9)
- Trenton Systems (9)
- networking (9)
- Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) (7)
- Encryption (6)
- Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) (6)
- GPUs (6)
- IPU (6)
- Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) (6)
- Server motherboards (6)
- artificial intelligence (6)
- Computer stress tests (5)
- Cross domain solutions (5)
- Mission-critical servers (5)
- Rugged mini PCs (5)
- AI (4)
- BIOS (4)
- CPU (4)
- Defense (4)
- Military primes (4)
- Mission-critical systems (4)
- Platform Firmware Resilience (PFR) (4)
- Rugged blade servers (4)
- containerization (4)
- data protection (4)
- virtualization (4)
- Counterfeit electronic parts (3)
- DO-160 (3)
- Edge servers (3)
- Firmware (3)
- HPC (3)
- Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD) (3)
- Leadership (3)
- Navy (3)
- O-RAN (3)
- RAID (3)
- RAM (3)
- Revision control (3)
- Ruggedization (3)
- SATCOM (3)
- Storage servers (3)
- Supply chain (3)
- Tactical Advanced Computer (TAC) (3)
- Wide-temp computers (3)
- computers made in the USA (3)
- data transfer (3)
- deep learning (3)
- embedded computers (3)
- embedded systems (3)
- firmware security (3)
- machine learning (3)
- Automatic test equipment (ATE) (2)
- C6ISR (2)
- COTS (2)
- COVID-19 (2)
- Compliance (2)
- Compute Express Link (CXL) (2)
- Computer networking (2)
- Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) (2)
- DDR (2)
- DDR4 (2)
- DPU (2)
- Dual CPU motherboards (2)
- EW (2)
- I/O (2)
- Military standards (2)
- NVIDIA (2)
- NVMe SSDs (2)
- PCIe (2)
- PCIe 4.0 (2)
- PCIe 5.0 (2)
- RAN (2)
- SIGINT (2)
- SWaP-C (2)
- Software Guard Extensions (SGX) (2)
- Submarines (2)
- Supply chain security (2)
- TAA compliance (2)
- airborne (2)
- as9100d (2)
- chassis (2)
- data diode (2)
- end-to-end solution (2)
- hardware security (2)
- hardware virtualization (2)
- integrated combat system (2)
- manufacturing reps (2)
- memory (2)
- mission computers (2)
- private 5G (2)
- protection (2)
- secure by design (2)
- small form factor (2)
- software security (2)
- vRAN (2)
- zero trust (2)
- zero trust architecture (2)
- 3U BAM Server (1)
- 4G (1)
- 4U (1)
- 5G Frequencies (1)
- 5G Frequency Bands (1)
- AI/ML/DL (1)
- Access CDS (1)
- Aegis Combat System (1)
- Armed Forces (1)
- Asymmetric encryption (1)
- C-RAN (1)
- COMINT (1)
- CPUs (1)
- Cloud-based CDS (1)
- Coast Guard (1)
- Compliance testing (1)
- Computer life cycle (1)
- Containers (1)
- D-RAN (1)
- DART (1)
- DDR5 (1)
- DMEA (1)
- Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) (1)
- Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARP) (1)
- ELINT (1)
- EMI (1)
- EO/IR (1)
- Electromagnetic Interference (1)
- Electronic Warfare (EW) (1)
- FIPS 140-2 (1)
- FIPS 140-3 (1)
- Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) (1)
- Ground Control Stations (GCS) (1)
- Hardware-based CDS (1)
- Hybrid CDS (1)
- IES.5G (1)
- ION Mini PC (1)
- IP Ratings (1)
- IPMI (1)
- Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) (1)
- Industry news (1)
- Integrated Base Defense (IBD) (1)
- LAN ports (1)
- LTE (1)
- Life cycle management (1)
- Lockheed Martin (1)
- MIL-S-901 (1)
- MIL-STD-167-1 (1)
- MIL-STD-461 (1)
- MIL-STD-464 (1)
- MOSA (1)
- Multi-Access Edge Computing (1)
- NASA (1)
- NIC (1)
- NIC Card (1)
- NVMe (1)
- O-RAN compliant (1)
- Oil and Gas (1)
- OpenRAN (1)
- P4 (1)
- PCIe card (1)
- PCIe lane (1)
- PCIe slot (1)
- Precision timestamping (1)
- Product life cycle (1)
- ROM (1)
- Raytheon (1)
- Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) (1)
- Rugged computing glossary (1)
- SEDs (1)
- SIM Card (1)
- Secure boot (1)
- Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) (1)
- Small form-factor pluggable (SFP) (1)
- Smart Edge (1)
- Smart NIC (1)
- SmartNIC (1)
- Software-based CDS (1)
- Symmetric encryption (1)
- System hardening (1)
- System hardening best practices (1)
- TME (1)
- Tech Partners (1)
- Total Memory Encryption (TME) (1)
- Transfer CDS (1)
- USB ports (1)
- VMEbus International Trade Association (VITA) (1)
- Vertical Lift Consortium (VLC) (1)
- Virtual machines (1)
- What are embedded systems? (1)
- Wired access backhaul (1)
- Wireless access backhaul (1)
- accredidation (1)
- aerospace (1)
- air gaps (1)
- airborne computers (1)
- asteroid (1)
- authentication (1)
- autonomous (1)
- certification (1)
- cognitive software-defined radios (CDRS) (1)
- command and control (C2) (1)
- communications (1)
- cores (1)
- custom (1)
- customer service (1)
- customer support (1)
- data linking (1)
- data recording (1)
- ethernet (1)
- full disk encryption (1)
- hardware monitoring (1)
- heat sink (1)
- hypervisor (1)
- in-house technical support (1)
- input (1)
- integrated edge solution (1)
- international business (1)
- licensed spectrum (1)
- liquid cooling (1)
- mCOTS (1)
- microelectronics (1)
- missile defense (1)
- mixed criticality (1)
- moving (1)
- multi-factor authentication (1)
- network slicing (1)
- neural networks (1)
- new headquarters (1)
- next generation interceptor (1)
- non-volatile memory (1)
- operating system (1)
- output (1)
- outsourced technical support (1)
- post-boot (1)
- pre-boot (1)
- private networks (1)
- public networks (1)
- radio access network (RAN) (1)
- reconnaissance (1)
- secure flash (1)
- security (1)
- self-encrypting drives (SEDs) (1)
- sff (1)
- software (1)
- software-defined radios (SDRs) (1)
- speeds and feeds (1)
- standalone (1)
- storage (1)
- systems (1)
- tactical wide area networks (1)
- technical support (1)
- technology (1)
- third-party motherboards (1)
- troposcatter communication (1)
- unlicensed spectrum (1)
- volatile memory (1)
- vpx (1)
- zero trust network (1)
- October 2024 (1)
- August 2024 (1)
- July 2024 (1)
- May 2024 (1)
- April 2024 (3)
- February 2024 (1)
- November 2023 (1)
- October 2023 (1)
- July 2023 (1)
- June 2023 (3)
- May 2023 (7)
- April 2023 (5)
- March 2023 (7)
- December 2022 (2)
- November 2022 (6)
- October 2022 (7)
- September 2022 (8)
- August 2022 (3)
- July 2022 (4)
- June 2022 (13)
- May 2022 (10)
- April 2022 (4)
- March 2022 (11)
- February 2022 (4)
- January 2022 (4)
- December 2021 (1)
- November 2021 (4)
- September 2021 (2)
- August 2021 (1)
- July 2021 (2)
- June 2021 (3)
- May 2021 (4)
- April 2021 (3)
- March 2021 (3)
- February 2021 (8)
- January 2021 (4)
- December 2020 (5)
- November 2020 (5)
- October 2020 (4)
- September 2020 (4)
- August 2020 (6)
- July 2020 (9)
- June 2020 (11)
- May 2020 (13)
- April 2020 (8)
- February 2020 (1)
- January 2020 (1)
- October 2019 (1)
- August 2019 (2)
- July 2019 (2)
- March 2019 (1)
- January 2019 (2)
- December 2018 (1)
- November 2018 (2)
- October 2018 (5)
- September 2018 (3)
- July 2018 (1)
- April 2018 (2)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (9)
- January 2018 (27)
- December 2017 (1)
- November 2017 (2)
- October 2017 (3)
No Comments Yet
Let us know what you think