Network Interface Controller - Purpose

Purpose

The network controller implements the electronic circuitry required to communicate using a specific physical layer and data link layer standard such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi or Token Ring. This provides a base for a full network protocol stack, allowing communication among small groups of computers on the same LAN and large-scale network communications through routable protocols, such as IP.

Although other network technologies exist (e.g. token ring), Ethernet has achieved near-ubiquity since the mid-1990s.

Every Ethernet network controller has a unique 48-bit serial number called a MAC address, which is stored in read-only memory. Every computer on an Ethernet network must have at least one controller. Normally it is safe to assume that no two network controllers will share the same address, because controller vendors purchase blocks of addresses from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and assign a unique address to each controller at the time of manufacture.

The NIC allows computers to communicate over a computer network. It is both an OSI layer 1 (physical layer) and layer 2 (data link layer) device, as it provides physical access to a networking medium and provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC addresses. It allows users to connect to each other either by using cables or wirelessly.