A network adapter provides network connectivity for a computer, workstation or server. An add-in adapter can be used to add additional network ports, upgrade connection speeds or provide specialist network connectivity.

This depends on your network infrastructure and workload. Standard office environments may not require very high network speeds, while servers, workstations, shared storage and data-intensive applications can benefit from faster connections such as 10GbE or above.

The system needs a compatible PCIe slot and operating system support for the adapter. You should also check the physical card size, interface requirements and network connection type before purchasing.

These figures represent different maximum network connection speeds. Higher-speed adapters can provide substantially more bandwidth, but your switches, cabling or transceivers and other network equipment must also support the required standard.