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MovedGoalPosts · 14-06-2011, 18:02

There are lots of ways to set up a network, but you basically want to be able to pick up what you have at the moment from one office and plonk it down in the new one.

Think of patch panels as just a load of connection sockets. Each socket is just one end of a very long cable which then has a socket on the wall near a desk. Just as you use a short lead to connect a computer to the wall socket you need a short lead to connect the patch panel to the networking device. Patch leads are short ethernet cables and yes they will have a RJ45 plug on each end.

It sounds as though your current server has two network cards. One is plugged into your BT modem, the other then connects to a switch from where ethernet leads then connect to your office's computers. The switch is a powered device which does all the magical work of joining a load of the otherwise dumb ethernet cables together letting everything speak.

14-06-2011, 18:02	#6
MovedGoalPosts Inactive Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: 127.0.0.1 Age: 61 Posts: 15,868	Re: Patch Panel/ Switch There are lots of ways to set up a network, but you basically want to be able to pick up what you have at the moment from one office and plonk it down in the new one. Think of patch panels as just a load of connection sockets. Each socket is just one end of a very long cable which then has a socket on the wall near a desk. Just as you use a short lead to connect a computer to the wall socket you need a short lead to connect the patch panel to the networking device. Patch leads are short ethernet cables and yes they will have a RJ45 plug on each end. It sounds as though your current server has two network cards. One is plugged into your BT modem, the other then connects to a switch from where ethernet leads then connect to your office's computers. The switch is a powered device which does all the magical work of joining a load of the otherwise dumb ethernet cables together letting everything speak.