Network monitoring interface card
A network monitoring interface card or NMIC is simliar to a *Template:Network interface card network interface card (NMIC). However, unlike a standard network card, a NMIC is designed to passively (and silently) listen on a network. Functionally, a NMIC may differ from a NIC, in that the NMIC may not have a MAC Address, may lack the ability to transmit and may not announce its presence on a network. Advanced Network Monitoring Interface Cards have features that include an ability to offload CPU intensive processing from a system's CPU, accurate time measurement, traffic filtering, and an ability to perform other application specific processing.
NMICs are typically used in intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS), lawful intercept, flow analysis, network monitoring, and protocol analyzer systems.