|  | 7.4 | Layer 2 Devices
| 7.4.1 | NICs

A network interface card (NIC) plugs into a motherboard and provides ports for network connection. This card can be designed as an Ethernet card, a Token Ring card, or an FDDI card. Network cards communicate with the network through serial connections, and with the computer through parallel connections. They are the physical connections from workstations to the network. Network cards all require an IRQ, an I/O address, and upper memory addresses for DOS and Windows 95/98. When selecting a network card, consider the following three factors:

1. type of network (e.g. Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, or other)
2. type of media (e.g. twisted-pair, coaxial, or fiber-optic cable)
3. type of system bus (e.g. PCI and ISA)