1. A method of operating a data communication system comprising a Network Interface Card (NIC), Central Processing Unit (CPU), and Data Memory Buffer (DMB) to efficiently verify hardware-trust, the method comprising: the NIC executing NIC boot-up software and responsively executing NIC hardware-trust software to assert control over a NIC Application Programming Interface (API); the CPU executing CPU boot-up software and responsively executing CPU hardware-trust software to assert control over a CPU API; the DMB executing DMB boot-up software and responsively executing DMB hardware-trust software to assert control over a DMB API; the NIC receiving and hashing NIC hardware-trust data with its physically-embedded NIC hardware-trust code and responsively generating and transferring a NIC hardware-trust result; the CPU receiving and hashing CPU hardware-trust data with its physically-embedded CPU hardware-trust code and responsively generating and transferring a CPU hardware-trust result; and the DMB receiving and hashing DMB hardware-trust data with its physically-embedded DMB hardware-trust code and responsively generating and transferring a DMB hardware-trust result.