TechKnowSurge
CompTIA Security+ 3.4
InteractiveSecurityFree

Inside the Box or Across Boxes?

Is the spare inside the device, or is it another device? Land five in a row.

⚑ Complete this interactive to capture a CTF flag worth 5 points.

About this interactive

The lesson opens real equipment. Inside a server: mirrored drives, hot-swap fans, two power supplies, and a PERC card that manages RAID across the drives. An enterprise server would also have two network cards. Inside a switch: two power supplies and two fans. Some redundancy has to be built from separate devices. Cisco StackWise cables link several switches through their backplanes so they act as one switch, and the stack keeps running if one switch fails. Two ASA firewalls joined by a heartbeat check on each other constantly, and if one stops answering, the other becomes the live firewall. Some redundancy is components within the equipment; some you set up between pieces of equipment.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+
3.4 Explain the importance of resilience and recovery in security architecture.

Key terms

Redundancy
The duplication of critical components or systems to increase reliability and availability.
Switch Stacking
A method of connecting multiple physical switches together so they operate as a single logical switch, providing device-level redundancy and simplified management.
Failover
The automatic switching to a redundant system or component when the primary one fails.
Network Interface Card
NIC
A hardware component that connects a computer to a network.

Topics

Interactive Streak Sort

About TechKnowSurge

TechKnowSurge builds IT and cybersecurity professionals through hands-on, concept-first training built around real understanding — not memorization. Free interactive tools, structured programs, and 25+ years of real-world experience, all in one place.

Explore free tools and programs →