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NICs are mostly used in computers and servers. As the market heats up as well as the technological capabilities increase, various types of Ethernet network interface cards have also emerged, such as Ethernet Network Interface Card and IB Network Interface Card. This article will also focus on the differences between Ethernet NICs and IB NICs and hopefully help you choose the most suitable networking card.
What is a Network Card?
A NIC is a hardware device mostly used on computers and servers. So, what is the role of the network card? Take the network card on the server as an example. The server’s network card is responsible for the physical connection and data transmission between the server and the LAN or the Internet. The network card realizes the exchange of information between the server and the outside world by receiving and sending data packets, and is a key component of the server’s network communication. With the increase in market popularity and technical capabilities, various types of network cards have emerged, such as Ethernet cards and IB network cards. The following will introduce you to the Ethernet NICs and IB NICs in detail.
Ethernet Card Overview
What is Ethernet NIC?
An Ethernet NIC is a network adapter that plugs into a motherboard slot and supports the Ethernet protocol standard. Each card has a globally unique physical address, called a MAC address, which can be used in a network to accurately send data to the destination based on the MAC address. There are many types of Ethernet cards and various ways to categorize them, which can be divided into three ways: bandwidth, network interface type, and bus interface type. Among them, fiber optic Ethernet network cards are the most widely used type of network card at present.
Common Ethernet Card Types by Bandwidth
10Gb Network Card SFP+
The 10G fiber optic network card is suitable for the construction of enterprise and campus backbone networks. At the same time, 10G Ethernet can transmit up to 100km, which can meet the transmission requirements in the metropolitan area. Deploying a 10G network at the metro area network backbone layer can greatly simplify the network structure. Reduce costs and facilitate maintenance, and build a low-cost, high-performance, and rich business support metropolitan area network through end-to-end Ethernet.
25G Network Card SFP28
The 25G NIC makes up for the low bandwidth of 10G Ethernet and the high cost of 40G Ethernet. The 25G network card port can support 25G and 10G rates. Compared with the 10G NICs, the larger bandwidth of the 25G NICs can meet the network needs of high-performance computing clusters. In network upgrades to 100G or higher rates, the 25G network card will be one of the indispensable infrastructures.
40G Network Card QSFP+
The 40G fiber optic network card supports 40Gbps transmission bandwidth and ensures efficient and stable network operation. Typically, 40G NICs have single and dual ports and are excellent interconnect solutions for enterprise data centers, cloud computing, and high-performance computing.
100G Network Card QSFP28
100G NICs provide high-performance and flexible solutions to improve the efficiency of data center network and storage connectivity. As data centers are rapidly developing towards higher bandwidth, 100G network cards are also playing an increasingly indispensable role in data centers.
IB NIC Overview
What is InfiniBand NIC?
The IB network card is a network adapter used in high-performance computing and data centers. InfiniBand is a high-speed, low-latency interconnect technology designed to support applications such as high-performance computing, large-scale data transfer, and cluster computing. By providing fast data transmission and low-latency communication, IB network cards can be used to connect storage devices, servers, storage devices and other network devices to achieve high performance and high throughput data transmission. This technology is very useful in applications that need to process large amounts of data or require low-latency communication, such as scientific computing, machine learning, financial transactions, and large-scale databases. IB network cards can provide higher performance and reliability than traditional Ethernet, and are suitable for scenarios that require high network performance.
InfiniBand Adapter Advantages
The advantages of InfiniBand adapter are their ultra-high transfer rates, low latency, high bandwidth utilization, and Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) technologies, making them suitable for applications such as HPC and data centers that require fast data transfers, as well as excellent scalability and reliability, they are ideal for massively parallel processing and real-time data analysis.
Ethernet vs InfiniBand NIC, What’s the Difference?
InfiniBand vs Ethernet NIC, How to Choose？
When choosing an InfiniBand NIC or Ethernet NIC, you should consider the specific application scenario of your networking needs. If you need extremely low latency, high bandwidth, and stable lossless transmission, especially in scenarios such as high-performance computing (HPC), scientific research, and financial services, InfiniBand NICs are the best choice, providing ultra-low latency and excellent performance.
For most enterprise networks, cloud computing, and home networking scenarios, Ethernet NICs are more cost-effective and flexible, highly compatible, easy to deploy and maintain, and suitable for a wide range of regular networking needs. Therefore, the selection should take into account the performance requirements, network size, budget and application environment to make a decision.
Conclusion
NIC is a key hardware device for computers or servers to implement network connections. Ethernet Network Interface Card and IB Network Interface Card have their own advantages and applicable scenarios. When choosing an IB NIC or an Ethernet NIC, you need to make a reasonable decision based on specific network needs, performance requirements, and budget to ensure efficient operation of the network.