This application provides a link management method. The physical device includes a first memory that stores a tail pointer of a link and a second memory that stores a head pointer of the link, and the physical device supports one time of enqueue processing and one time of dequeue processing in one clock cycle. The method includes: when a first link is not empty before the enqueue processing, modifying, by the physical device, a first tail pointer that is of the first link and that is in the first memory; and when a second link is not empty after the dequeue processing, modifying, by the physical device, a second head pointer that is of the second link and that is in the second memory.