NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) is a standard that defines the communication between a network adapter (or, better, the driver that manages it) and the protocol drivers (that implement for example TCP/IP). Main NDIS purpose is to act as a wrapper that allows protocol drivers to send and receive packets onto a network (LAN or WAN) without caring either the particular adapter or the particular operating system.

NDIS supports three types of network drivers:

• Network interface card or NIC drivers
• Intermediate drivers
• Transport drivers or protocol drivers