odd term... NIC number

[xyyz]

what is a NIC number? I came across the term while reading for my CCNP class.

I thought it was the MAC address... but they way it's used in this book CCNP Routing Exam Certification Guide doesn't seem to fit.

I'll take two excerpts:

this one is in a section titled familiar rules in IP subnetting

"The decision on the number of bits allocated to the network is made once per NIC number."

the the following the newer subnet rules

says:

"...it is no longer necessary to adhere to the rule that the subnet mask may be created one once per NIC number."

what does NIC number mean here... and ummm if you don't mind what are they talking about?

 

[ScottMac]

For servers with multiple NICs, each NIC is assigned a "serial ID" by the NOS...the first NIC is number one, the second is two , the third is three...etc

They're just saying that each NIC (in traditional networking) is assigned it's own subnet.

There used to be some gateway systems (IPX-->IP, IPX 802.3 -->EII, etc) where you put two NICs in one box, each NIC tended its own protocol, but that was back in the Novell 2.1X days (basically a PC-based specific-purpose router).

The "teaming" of NICs is still propriatary (multiple NICs acting as a single logical NIC for bandwidth multiplication, load sharing/balancing, etc).

I believe the second reference (the "new" way) refers to VLSM...every subnet can have a different mask value, or maybe they're talking about multi-netting (several subnets on one NIC).

FWIW

Scott

 

[xyyz]

<< For servers with multiple NICs, each NIC is assigned a "serial ID" by the NOS...the first NIC is number one, the second is two , the third is three...etc

They're just saying that each NIC (in traditional networking) is assigned it's own subnet.

There used to be some gateway systems (IPX-->IP, IPX 802.3 -->EII, etc) where you put two NICs in one box, each NIC tended its own protocol, but that was back in the Novell 2.1X days (basically a PC-based specific-purpose router).

The "teaming" of NICs is still propriatary (multiple NICs acting as a single logical NIC for bandwidth multiplication, load sharing/balancing, etc).

I believe the second reference (the "new" way) refers to VLSM...every subnet can have a different mask value, or maybe they're talking about multi-netting (several subnets on one NIC).

FWIW

Scott >>




ScottMac,

Thanks for the reply... could this also be another name for the network number... as assignmed by the NIC?