Editing Host adapter (section)

{{Short description|Computer hardware device}}
{{refimprove|date=February 2017}}

[[File:QLA 2200F.jpg|thumb |upright=1.3 |Fibre Channel host bus adapter (a [[64-bit]] [[PCI-X]] card){{clarify|What in the picture does the caption describe?|date=August 2023}}]]
[[File:Controller SCSI.JPG|thumb |upright=1.3 |SCSI host adapter (a [[16-bit]] [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] card)]]

In [[computer hardware]] a '''host controller''', '''host adapter''' or '''host bus adapter''' ('''HBA''') connects a [[computer]] [[system bus]] which acts as the host system to other [[computer network|network]] and [[computer storage|storage]] devices.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.techopedia.com/definition/17146/host-adapter |title=Host Adapter |website=Technopedia |access-date=2 July 2019}}</ref> The terms are primarily used to refer to devices for connecting [[SCSI]], [[Serial Attached SCSI|SAS]], [[NVMe]], [[Fibre Channel]] and [[Serial ATA|SATA]] devices.<ref name="techtarget">{{cite web |url=https://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/host-bus-adapter |title=host bus adapter (HBA) |website=SearchStorage |publisher=TechTarget |last1=Rouse |first1=Margaret |last2=Sliwa |first2=Carol |access-date=2 July 2019 |date=April 2015}}</ref> Devices for connecting to [[FireWire]], [[USB]] and other devices may also be called host controllers or host adapters.

Host adapters can be integrated in the motherboard or be on a separate [[expansion card]].<ref name="computerhope">{{cite web |url=https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/host_adapter.htm |title=Host adapter |work=Computer Hope}}</ref>

The term [[network interface controller]] (NIC) is more often used for devices connecting to computer networks, while the term [[converged network adapter]] can be applied when protocols such as [[iSCSI]] or [[Fibre Channel over Ethernet]] allow storage and network functionality over the same physical connection.