The Physical Layer: Network Interface Cards

1. The Physical Layer: Network Interface Cards Aaron Ehrlich Daniel Dunevant

2. Introduction • Welcome to the simple world of Network Interface Cards! • Network Interface Cards, or NICs, provide computers with an interface to the network media. • They also handle the details of accessing, sending, and receiving network media. • It is VERY DIFFICULT to network a PC without a Network Interface Card!

3. Introduction, pt. II • There are three main areas of the physical NIC experience: • Bus Types • Supported Media Types and • Advanced Features

4. NIC Bus Types • The bus type, that is, the protocol for interfacing with the PC, of an NIC can affect the performance of the computer or server. The most common types: • ISA – Old but still readily available bus • EISA – Improvement over ISA, but even more rare • PCI – Clearly the dominant bus type for NICs and is rapidly becoming the only interface option for new PCs • PCI is preferred for faster data transfer rates, and normally clocks in at about 33MHz.

5. Media Types Supported • Media consideration is an important factor in using and NIC; it may support twisted-pair, 10Base2, fiber-optic, or a combination of the above. Money is directly proportional to the media options- the cheapest NICs support only one media type. An AUC, attachment unit interface, is used on some NICs to adapt to certain media types.

6. NIC Features • Not all NICs are created equal. • Some popular features are: • Front-panel Indicators: indicator lights in the form of LEDs that can be used to signal different states of activity, usually on, malfunctioning, or disconnected by green, amber, and red. Duplex-mode indicators show that an NIC is either Half-duplex or Full-duplex mode; half-duplex means that a device cannot both send and receive simultaneously, while full-duplex can. • Wake-on-LAN: allows an administrator to remotely turn on the computer by sending a network signal to the NIC. • Remote Boot: Set of ROM chips installed in an NIC that allow the Network Card to load an operating system across the entire network. Rarely used anymore.

7. NIC Features, cont. • Desktop Management Interface (DMI) is a standard framework for managing and tracking components on a PC/Server remotely. Processes include: • RMON Data Collection: standard software interface for gathering network statistics. • Bus Mastering: allows an NIC to access system bus without intervention from the CPU or loss of multitasking • Encoding: allows the NCIC to encrypt network IP addresses uniquely across a network without configuration.

8. NIC Support Issues • Most operating systems and NIC support Plug and Play- installing a NIC will result in the OS installing the drivers and configuring it properly. • When Plug and Play is not an option, such as Windows NT, options that must be configured include the IRQ and port number of the NIC. • Barring these rare problems, NICs are one of the least likely hardware sources to malfunction.

9. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 1: 30 points • What is the most common modern NIC bus type? • A. ISA • B. PCI • C. DDR • D. EISA

10. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 1: 30 points • What is the most common modern NIC bus type? • A. ISA • B. PCI • C. DDR • D. EISA

11. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 2: 20 points • What color usually means “on” or “properly connected” on NIC indicators? • A. Purple • B. Red • C. Amber • D. Green

12. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 2: 20 points • What color usually means “on” or “properly connected” on NIC indicators? • A. Purple • B. Red • C. Amber • D. Green

13. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 3: 40 points • What does AUI stand for? • A. Attachment Unit Interface • B. Allocation Unit Interface • C. Attachment User Interface • D. Antique Universal Inspiration

14. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 3: 40 points • What does AUI stand for? • A. Attachment Unit Interface • B. Allocation Unit Interface • C. Attachment User Interface • D. Antique Universal Inspiration

15. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 4: 40 points • Which of the following is the definition of Half-duplex mode? • A. Can both send and receive data simultaneously • B. Can send but not receive data • C. Can send and receive data, but cannot do both simultaneously • D. Can receive but not send data

16. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 4: 40 points • Which of the following is the definition of Half-duplex mode? • A. Can both send and receive data simultaneously • B. Can send but not receive data • C. Can send and receive data, but cannot do both simultaneously • D. Can receive but not send data

17. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 5: 50 points • Remote Boot is no longer a common NIC feature because: • A. It was too expensive to continue integrating into new NICs • B. The prices of hard drives that could store the same kind of information decreased • C. Remote Boot only allowed the main server to install network operating systems • D. Operating system files became too complex to encode onto NIC chipsets

18. Game TimeGet Ready. • Question 5: 50 points • Remote Boot is no longer a common NIC feature because: • A. It was too expensive to continue integrating into new NICs • B. The prices of hard drives that could store the same kind of information decreased • C. Remote Boot only allowed the main server to install network operating systems • D. Operating system files became too complex to encode onto NIC chipsets