An administrator gets a call that multiple users do not have network access to the company server that they have been using for five years. Users can access the other servers and computers in the…

If the DNS server were down, users would likely experience issues resolving hostnames but might still have basic network connectivity if using IP addresses, and the NIC status lights would still be on.

A malfunctioning NIC driver might prevent network communication at the operating system level, but the physical link lights on the NIC hardware itself would typically still illuminate if the hardware is functional.

If the DHCP server were down, new clients or clients with expired leases might not obtain IP addresses, but existing clients might retain their addresses for a while, and more importantly, the physical NIC status lights would still be active on the server.

The absence of status lights on the NIC after confirming the Ethernet cable is functional and connected properly is a direct indicator of a hardware issue with the Network Interface Card. NIC status lights typically illuminate to show link activity and connection status, and their absence means the card is not establishing a physical link.