An administrator is attempting to connect a laptop directly to a server's 100Mbps management NIC. Which of the following cables should the administrator use ?

A rollover cable uses a fully reversed pinout designed for out-of-band serial console access to routers and switches, not for Ethernet data connections.

A straight-through Cat 5 cable connects unlike devices such as a PC to a switch and would fail to establish a link in a direct NIC-to-NIC connection where MDI/MDIX auto-negotiation is unavailable.

A straight-through Cat 5e cable is rated for higher speeds but still uses the straight-through pinout, which does not cross the required pairs for a direct device-to-device Ethernet connection.

A crossover cable swaps the transmit and receive wire pairs (pins 1/2 with 3/6 in 100BASE-TX), which is required for a direct connection between two like devices such as a laptop and a server NIC. Without crossing the pairs, both ends transmit on the same wire and neither can receive, resulting in a failed link. A 100Mbps management NIC often lacks Auto-MDI/MDIX support, so the crossover must be done in the cable rather than negotiated automatically.