Most network hardware has a "ROMmon" (ROM Monitor) or "Rescue" mode. If a switch boots and finds a corrupt OS, it defaults to looking for a TFTP server at a specific IP address.
Without TFTP, that machine is a brick. Cisco, Juniper, HP, and Ubiquiti all speak TFTP in their darkest hour. tftp server for windows
In this scenario, your Windows laptop becomes the ER room. You set a static IP (e.g., 192.168.1.10 ), launch your TFTP server, place the correct .bin firmware file in the root directory, and console into the switch to type: copy tftp flash: Most network hardware has a "ROMmon" (ROM Monitor)
But when your $10,000 enterprise switch turns into a paperweight because a firmware update failed, or when you need to boot a diskless workstation, the "trivial" protocol becomes mission-critical. Cisco, Juniper, HP, and Ubiquiti all speak TFTP
In the modern world of multi-gigabit fiber and seamless cloud backups, the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) sounds like a relic. It is, by design, simplistic. It has no authentication, no encryption, and no directory listing.