Switches, routers, firewalls, patch panels and console servers
Tell rack network equipment apart and know what each one does.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 30 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Distinguish a patch panel from a switch
- Explain the roles of switches, routers, firewalls and console servers
- Identify equipment from labels and documentation when looks aren't enough
Course outline
- 1.Telling network devices apartVideo · 2 min
- 2.What's what in a network rackLesson · 12 min
- 3.Reading front panels: ports, LEDs and uplinksLesson · 12 min
- 4.Where each device sits in the traffic pathLesson · 12 min
- 5.Switches, routers, firewalls, patch panels and console servers: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 18 questions
- 6.Remote hands patched the wrong portScenario
- 7.Final exam4 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- ANSI/TIA-568 series: Commercial building telecommunications cabling
- Your equipment vendors' installation and service guides (rail kits, PSU and BMC documentation)
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.