Question

Although a NIC card is found in a router, switch and computer, the basic operation is to simply transmit a signal therefore; which layer(s) does a NIC card assigned on the OSI model?

A. Layer 2 and 3
B. Layer 1
C. Layer 6
D. Layer 1, 2 and 3

Answer 1

A Network Interface Card (NIC) operates at Layer 1 (Physical Layer) and Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) of the OSI model, handling raw data transmission and node-to-node data transfer with MAC addresses.

Thus, the correct option is: option b) layer 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Network Interface Card (NIC), which is found in devices like computers, routers, and switches, operates primarily at the first two layers of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.

The correct answer to which layers a NIC card is associated with on the OSI model is Layer 1 (Physical Layer) and Layer 2 (Data Link Layer).

The Physical Layer deals with the transmission and reception of raw bitstreams over a physical medium, while the Data Link Layer is responsible for node-to-node data transfer and deals with MAC addresses.

Additionally, in the OSI reference model, the communications between a computing system are split into seven different abstraction layers: Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, and Application.