what is network interface card

what is network interface card

Network Interface Card (NIC)

A network interface card (NIC) connects a computer to a specific network. Network is a collection of computers where a computer can communicate with others for resource and content sharing, load balancing and for other purposes. NIC can also stands for Network Interface Controller. It is also termed as LAN adapter. In early days, NICs were commonly implemented on expansion cards that were plugged into a computer bus. Because of the low cost and widespread use of this standard now-a-days most of the computers have a network interface built into its motherboard.

Since both expansion slots and network type are different, a NIC must meet these two specifications. One connector on it should match the expansion slots on the motherboard (i.e. PCIe, PCI, and so on) while the other connector should be of type of the network (such as fiber connectors, antenna for wireless, RJ-45 for UTP and so on) An NIC requires both physical installation and software installation.

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