What is a network card

The network card has long become an essential component of a modern computer, like a mouse or a sound card. If earlier only a few lucky people could afford to purchase these components, now without them it is not necessary to talk about a full computational and multimedia system .

Before we consider what a network card is, let's make a small mental journey into the distant 90's. One of the most popular ways of exchanging information between computers were diskettes (Internet tariffs were high, and a dial-up modem connected to the COM port worked at low speeds). However, increasing the size of the transferred data required not one, but several floppy disks. If we recall their susceptibility to the appearance of unreadable sectors, it becomes clear that this method needed to be improved. It was clear that a mechanism was needed that would allow simple and quick connection of computers, and it was proposed. Note that the decision was known for a long time, but it was not a mass one.

A special device was connected to the motherboard - a network card, which enabled the cable to transmit any digital data to another computer equipped with a similar device. The transmission speed was many times higher than the fastest Dial-Up modem. For its work, the network card needed a coaxial cable - it was 50 Ω "thin" and "thick" Ethernet. A simple television did not fit because of high wave resistance. The network card was a very "whimsical" device - quality contacts, a good cable, matching termination plugs - everything had to conform to the specification.

Now much has changed: the coaxial cable has been replaced by a twisted pair, the plugs have been abolished, the effect of resistance has been reduced, which allows us to restore the breaks by simple twisting. The transfer protocol was seriously improved - a full-duplex mode was introduced (simultaneous reception / transmission of several network cards), and high speeds became customary. Now many providers provide access to the Internet through a similar solution, rather than a modem. By the way, the appearance of the connector for the cable can determine its type: round - it's coaxial, and rectangular (almost like a telephone) - it's a twisted pair.

So, a network card is a device that provides data exchange between computers through an intermediate medium (cable, radio waves). Although you can still find a card in the shops as a separate component, all modern motherboards already have an unmounted microcircuit that performs all the basic functions of receiving and transmitting the signal.

Any network card contains a "sewn" number, the so-called MAC address, which allows it to be identified. If necessary, it can be replaced programmatically.

Depending on the bus used, PCI and PCI-Express cards are distinguished. In some cases, an external network card connected to USB ports is indispensable.

Although all modern models allow to develop the transmission speed of information in 1 Gbit, while more demanded is 100 Mbit / s, since in this case the requirements for the cable are lower.

A prerequisite for the operation of the network interface is the driver installed in the system. It must be downloaded from the developer's site and installed. After that, the device "sees" the computer and it is possible to interact with it.