An example is:
/consoles/1.1 (Installed by EAP)
/consoles/1.2 (Installed by Portal)
/consoles/1.3 (Installed by BRMS)
/consoles/1.4 (installed by a Portal patch)
So in this case the server would start with 1.4. If BRMS was removed, 1.4 would be picked. If the portal patch was then rolled back, 1.2 would be picked.