Question… I often see rack mounted servers with those small Ethernet patch cables running between two adjacent devices, like you have there. I’ve always assumed one of the devices is a switch, but it’s never made sense to me why there’s so many connections between those two.

What are those devices, and why so many connections between them? Like, as far as I can tell, in one instance you have a cable running from the top device to a small switch resting on top, which then runs from the switch to the lower device… Despite all of the other Ethernet running directly from the top to the bottom. What is going on here??