Differences between ARM CPU architecture and Intel x86 CPU compared to NIC interface

Thread Starter

Ab Abrams

Joined Apr 27, 2017
25
Hello guys!

I was wondering if anyone can help/ guide/ explain me what are the basics
major differences between using a specific NIC with an INTEL x86 CPU and
an ARM CPU architecture??

Let's assume that I have a realtek RTL8169 NIC.
How I can find the major differences between using this card with an INTEL CPU and then with an ARM CPU? What I have to focus on?

I want to know, how a NIC knows when is connected and communicates with an INTEL or an ARM CPU?

Sorry for my poor English,
many thanks!
 

Thread Starter

Ab Abrams

Joined Apr 27, 2017
25
Hi,
I will re-define my query, let's say that I have a specific NIC card ( realtek RTL8169 model) and I have two servers, one running Ubuntu 14.04 and another one with CentOS 7.
I was wondering, the NIC is going to communicate through different kind of registers in different ways, when I am using a software up to Ubuntu OS and when I use the same software up to a CentOS ?
NIC's device drivers define that? how I can find the differences?
I mean, there is a documentation that declares how it works using different kind of OSs?

Many thanks for your help!
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
If the NIC hardware and hardware interface are identical then basic register communication and actions could be the same on that NIC hardware. (they usually provide several methods to access the device) The software method of how the driver handles data and signal flow from NIC hardware to OS driver interface ABI (even if the ABI is identical between servers) can be completely different. (One might polled while other interrupt driven while yet another driver might use DMA transfers instead of CPU transfers.

The ultimate documentation is called the source code and the hardware programming manual.
 

BR-549

Joined Sep 22, 2013
4,928
The NIC card doesn't have to worry about that. The card only cares about the PIA bus(or some such standard) and protocols. It's universal. It's common to all.
 

shteii01

Joined Feb 19, 2010
4,644
I was wondering, the NIC is going to communicate through different kind of registers in different ways, when I am using a software up to Ubuntu OS and when I use the same software up to a CentOS ?
NIC's device drivers define that? how I can find the differences?
I mean, there is a documentation that declares how it works using different kind of OSs?

Many thanks for your help!
Find some drivers that are open to public and read their documentation. I think most linux drivers are open source, you should be able to read their documentation and see what registers authors used for each OS.
 
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