Dictionary · Networking Hardware
Network Interface Card
NIC — Network Interface Card
Components · Beginner
The hardware, or virtual equivalent, that connects a host to a network. It has a hardware address and sends and receives frames on a link.
It is the computer's network port, whether a card, a chip on the motherboard, or a virtual adapter. One computer can have several, each with its own addresses.
Example: A server has one interface for management and another for production traffic, each with a separate address.
Common misconception
- The interface is not the same thing as the protocol address assigned to it. The hardware address and the protocol address answer different questions.