Networking is an essential part of any business or SOHO. And there is a broad range of hardware to choose from when designing or supporting a network. But with all the high tech networking equipment available, one thing is sometimes overlooked. The NIC, or network interface card plays an essential role in computer networking. A NIC allows a PC to have a dedicated connection to the LAN (Local Area Network) to transmit data back and forth to and from a server or other workstations.
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| 8 NIC Cards to choose from |
The NIC works in the Physical layer of the OSI networking model, and it’s main purpose is to take data from your computer –and convert it into data frames that are broadcast onto the network wire. There are several different kinds of NICs and each serve a specific kind of purpose. By today’s standards, the most popular NIC is a PCI 10/100 Mbit/s auto-sensing card. The auto-sensing capability allows the NIC to detect what kind of network infrastructure it is connected with, either a CAT 3 UTP(10mbit/s) or CAT 5 UTP(100 Mbit/s), and transmit data at that speed. This allows for a certain amount of backwards compatibility with older /slower LAN setups. CAT 3 or 5 specs also define a RJ 45 connection, which is more prevalent over older coaxial T connections.
When you are looking towards replacing, upgrading, or building a LAN – the NIC should be one of the first things you consider during implementation and planning. There are certain things you will want to pay special attention to when purchasing a NIC: the Bus-mastering drivers it uses, OS compatibility issues, easy-installation, and the price factor. Price plays a big role, especially in larger, enterprise level rollouts (where a few dollars difference can mean a large total sum).
We’ve collected 8 NICs from 6 major companies and compared them head to head. I will explain a little about each card – both benefits and features, then you will see test results from a multiple file transfer test using two different machine configurations. At the end of all the NIC card descriptions and test results –I’ll go over all the comparative scores, so we can see how they each compared in performance and value to one another, and perhaps which card might work better for your networking solution.
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