You can't assume that every adapter is universal. It can also happen that the network adapter is simply not suitable for the version of the operating system installed on a particular laptop or computer. Therefore, it is important to consider this point before buying. You can read about compatibility on the product page, where the model description is presented.
How to Choose Network Cards
This article provides recommendations on how to choose the best suitable network card for your computer. Depending on the nature of its application, as well as the parameters of the computer device itself, you should give preference to one model or another. This adapter provides not only the very possibility of data transmission in a computer network, but is also responsible for the speed and security of the process.
How to choose network cards according to different parameters
There are a number of parameters that affect the choice of the card. The most important among them are:
It is impossible to be guided by only one of them. Even different manufacturers, although they use a different type of device assembly, use the same components. Still, it is better to give preference to proven brands, such as TP-Link, D-link, Intel, Asus or Acer. Before buying an adapter, it is advisable to consult with your network administrator or other knowledgeable IT professional.
Basic concepts
What is an HBA?
HBA (Host Bus Adapter) is a type of computer hardware: an adapter card that is installed in a computer and serves to connect drives (storage devices) or networks that have an interface bus organization other than the one originally installed in the computer. Using an HBA card, the main microprocessor of storage tasks and data retrieval can be greatly facilitated. Although HBA cards are widely used in all types of connections, they are most often used for connections that support Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface), and SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) protocols. According to the protocol supported, there are different types of HBA cards, such as FC HBA card, iSCSI HBA card and SAS HBA card.
What is a network adapter?
A network interface card, NIC for short, is also called a local area network (LAN) card or network adapter. It is an expansion card for connecting devices such as computers and network servers over a network. To learn more about NICs, you can read the post: What is a network adapter – definition, functions and types.
What is a converged network adapter?
A converged network adapter, CNA for short, is also known as a converged network interface controller (C-NIC). As the name implies, this hardware component can combine the functions of an HBA with those of an NIC. On the one hand, CNA cards with PCIe interfaces offer connectivity and data transfer between storage devices or servers and SAN-based FC; on the other hand, it directly delivers Ethernet traffic from the same network devices to LANs.
HBA vs. NIC vs. CNA: comparison and contrast
As three types of cards, HBA, NIC and CNA cards are capable of providing data processing and physical connectivity for devices. However, these cards with their unique features and modes of operation are used in different applications.
HBA card: As we mentioned above, different types of HBA cards are used to support different protocols. For the Fibre Channel HBA adapter, it is typically plugged into an HBA server and connected to a Fibre Channel switch via an optical patch cord. Generally, the FC HBA card is the preferred card in FC SANs. As for the iSCSI HBA card, it comes with an RJ45 port or an optical port, which can connect with twisted-pair cable or optical patch cord. Sending SCSI commands to a storage device on remote servers over TCP/IP, the iSCSI HBA card is often used in iSCSI based IP SANs. As for the SAS HBA type, using the SCSI command set, it is deployed to connect SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) or SAS-compatible devices. It is common in SCSI-enabled DAS networking.
Network Adapter: Based on the Internet Protocol (IP), the network adapter can be found in two types: with optical ports or electrical ports. HBA card vs. NIC card, the latter usually connects to an Ethernet switch via an optical patch cord or twisted pair. Currently, most traditional NICs on the market support iSCSI and NAS protocols, which can be used in IP SAN and NAS networks.
CNA card: HBA vs. NIC vs. CNA, a converged network adapter can combine the functionality of both other adapters into one and support FC and Ethernet protocols on the same interface port. Traditionally, Ethernet is used for TCP/IP networking and Fibre Channel for storage networking. With the CNA card, Fibre Channel will be transported directly over Ethernet to the Ethernet port on the FCoE-enabled switch. The converged switch will then convert FC traffic to FC SAN and Ethernet traffic to LAN.
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