NETWORK INTERFACE CARD(NIC)

A Network Interface Card (NIC) is a computer hardware component that allows a computer to connect to a network. NICs may be used for both wired and wireless connections. A NIC is also known as a network interface controller (NIC), network interface controller card, expansion card, computer circuit board, network card, LAN card, network adapter or network adapter card (NAC)

• NIC can be LAN card or ETHER card
• Ethernet cards have a unique 48bit address called as MAC(Media Access Control) address
• MAC address is also called as physical or hardware address
• 48 bit MAC address is represented as 12 hexadecimal digits
• example:3A-B0-D0-86-BB-F7
• In the above example first 6 digits represent manufacture id
• Next 6 digits represent serial number

Basic requirments for a network