A Network Interface Card (NIC) is a device which plugs into a computer and adapts the network interface to the appropriate standard. NICs come in all sort of adapter types: ISA, PCI, PCMCIA, USB, and more. The NIC is a physical card which provides a connection for the physical network. The NIC operates in the Data Link layer of the OSI model.
The Network Interface Card (NIC) used connect the computer to the external network. It will normally have a PCI connector (Edge connector) to connect to one of the PC expansion slots, and an RJ-45 connector to connect to external Ethernet. Note that the interface connectors may differ depending upon the expansion bus being used (for example, PCI, ISA, EISA, USB etc.), and the networking media being used (for example, 10Base2, 10Base5, 10BaseT, etc.). Each of these have their own interface specifications. Almost all NICs have LED indicators showing the network connectivity.
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