The difference between Gigabit Nic Intel 82567 and 82574

Recently, a friend asked me: T260 G3 integrated Intel 82567 and 82574 are gigabit NIC, what are their performance differences?

The NIC is a device that works at the same time as the physical layer and the data link layer in the OSI Seven layer protocol, so that the NIC also needs two parts of the circuit: the PHY part and the Mac part, respectively, corresponding to the OSI two-layer protocol.

PHY part of the circuit is responsible for the number of modules-analog-to-digital conversion (DA-AD), the digital logic into the high and low level (network cable) or optical signal (optical fiber).

Mac part of the circuit responsible for digital logic operations, we are familiar with the functions and behavior of the network card is also implemented by him, it is a DSP. The more powerful the NIC, the stronger the Mac part.

The so-called PHY is only provides the physical layer connection transformation function, all logic operation need the CPU realization, similar to the South Bridge soft raid realization way. Independent NICs are done by the Mac part of the circuit itself.

Intel 82567 is a PHY chip, and Intel 82574 is a NIC that contains both the PHY and Mac features.