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N10-005 · Question #889

The components of a NIC function at which of the following layers of the OSI model? (Select TWO).

The correct answer is A. Layer 1 B. Layer 2. A NIC operates at both the Physical layer (Layer 1) for electrical signaling and the Data Link layer (Layer 2) for MAC addressing and framing.

Networking concepts

Question

The components of a NIC function at which of the following layers of the OSI model? (Select TWO).

Options

  • ALayer 1
  • BLayer 2
  • CLayer 3
  • DLayer 4
  • ELayer 5

How the community answered

(33 responses)
  • A
    91% (30)
  • C
    3% (1)
  • D
    6% (2)

Why each option

A NIC operates at both the Physical layer (Layer 1) for electrical signaling and the Data Link layer (Layer 2) for MAC addressing and framing.

ALayer 1Correct

Layer 1 (Physical) is where the NIC handles the actual transmission and reception of raw bit streams over the physical medium, including electrical signals, voltages, and connectors.

BLayer 2Correct

Layer 2 (Data Link) is where the NIC operates using its burned-in MAC address to frame data into Ethernet frames and control access to the physical medium via MAC sublayer protocols.

CLayer 3

Layer 3 (Network) is handled by the router or the IP stack in the OS, not the NIC hardware itself.

DLayer 4

Layer 4 (Transport) is managed by the OS transport protocols such as TCP and UDP, not the NIC.

ELayer 5

Layer 5 (Session) manages communication sessions between applications and is implemented in software, not NIC hardware.

Concept tested: NIC operation across OSI Physical and Data Link layers

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/ndis-drivers

Topics

#NIC#OSI model#physical layer#data link layer

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