Editing Network interface controller (section)

{{short description|Hardware component that connects a computer to a network}}
{{Redirect|Network card|the British Rail discount card|Network Railcard}}

{{Infobox Computer Hardware Generic
| name        = Network interface controller
| image       = Network card.jpg
| caption     = A 1990s [[Ethernet]] network interface card that connects to the motherboard via the now-obsolete [[ISA bus]]. This combination card features both a [[BNC connector]] (left) for use in (now obsolete) [[10BASE2]] networks and an [[8P8C]] connector (right) for use in [[10BASE-T]] networks.
| invent-date =
| invent-name =
| conn1       = [[Motherboard]]
| via1_1      = integrated in [[chipset]] or [[System on a chip|SoC]]
| via1_2      = [[motherboard#Integrated peripherals|discrete onboard]]
| via1_3      = [[Peripheral Component Interconnect|PCI]] Connector
| via1_4      = [[Industry Standard Architecture|ISA]] Connector
| via1_5      = [[PCIe]] (including [[Mini PCIe]] and [[M.2]])
| via1_6      = [[FireWire]]
| via1_7      = [[USB]]
| via1_8      = [[Thunderbolt (interface)|Thunderbolt]]
| conn2       = Network
| via2_1      = [[Ethernet]]
| via2_2      = [[Wi-Fi]]
| via2_3      = [[Fibre Channel]]
| via2_4      = [[Asynchronous Transfer Mode|ATM]]
| via2_5      = [[FDDI]]
| via2_6      = [[Token Ring]]
| via2_7      = [[ARCNET]]
| class-name  = Speeds
| class1      = [[Full-duplex]] or [[half-duplex]]:
| class2 = {{bulleted list|10 Mbit/s|100 Mbit/s|1 Gbit/s}}
| class3 = [[Full-duplex]]:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Port speed and duplex mode configuration|url=http://docs.ruckuswireless.com/fastiron/08.0.70/fastiron-08070-managementguide/GUID-EDD7D44C-A627-4B76-A9FE-D7657FFF62D3.html|access-date=2020-09-25|website=docs.ruckuswireless.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Admin|first=Arista|date=2020-04-23|title=Section 11.2: Ethernet Standards - Arista|url=https://www.arista.com/en/um-eos/eos-section-11-2-ethernet-standards|access-date=2020-09-28|website=Arista Networks|language=en-gb}}</ref>
| class4      = {{bulleted list|2.5 Gbit/s|5 Gbit/s|10 Gbit/s|up to {{nowrap|160 Gbit/s}}}}
| manuf1      = [[Intel]]
| manuf2      = [[Realtek]]
| manuf3      = [[Broadcom]] (includes former [[Avago]], [[Emulex]])
| manuf4      = [[Marvell Technology Group]]
| manuf5      = [[Cavium]] (formerly [[QLogic]])
| manuf6      = [[Mellanox]]
| manuf7      = [[Chelsio]]
}}

A '''network interface controller''' ('''NIC''',<!--"Controller" is correct; once upon a time, they might all have been add-in cards, and called "network interface cards", but most of them are probably on the motherboard or in the SoC these days.--> also known as a '''network interface card''',<ref name="Dell"/> '''network adapter''', '''LAN adapter''' and '''physical network interface'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd392944(v=ws.10).aspx|title=Physical Network Interface|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|date=January 7, 2009}}</ref>) is a [[computer hardware]] component that connects a [[computer]] to a [[computer network]].<ref name=networking_01>{{cite web
|url         = http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/networking-basics-part1.html
|title       = Networking Basics: Part 1 - Networking Hardware
|author      = Posey, Brien M.
|year        = 2006
|work        = Windowsnetworking.com
|publisher   = TechGenix Ltd
|access-date  = 2012-06-09
}}</ref>

Early network interface controllers were commonly implemented on [[expansion card]]s that plugged into a [[computer bus]]. The low cost and ubiquity of the [[Ethernet]] standard means that most newer computers have a network interface built into the [[motherboard]], or is contained into a [[USB]]-connected [[dongle]], although network cards remain available.

Modern network interface controllers offer advanced features such as [[interrupt]] and [[Direct memory access|DMA]] interfaces to the host processors, support for multiple receive and transmit queues, partitioning into multiple logical interfaces, and on-controller network traffic processing such as the [[TCP offload engine]].