Choosing the Right Hypervisor

Choosing the Right Hypervisor

Virtualization is the backbone of modern IT infrastructure — but which hypervisor fits your environment best?

This comparison highlights the strengths and trade-offs of the industry’s leading platforms:

VMware ESXi: Enterprise-grade, feature-rich, and powerful — ideal for large-scale production environments (with premium licensing).

Hyper-V: Microsoft’s built-in solution for Windows environments — cost-effective and tightly integrated with Windows Server.

Proxmox: Open-source and flexible — combines KVM and LXC with an easy-to-use management interface.

KVM: Linux-native virtualization — lightweight, powerful, and widely used in cloud and large-scale deployments.

Types of Hackers

Types of Hackers & What Each “Hat” Means in Cybersecurity

In the cybersecurity world, the term “hat” represents a hacker’s intent, ethics, and role while interacting with systems and networks.

Each hat color reflects how skills are used — for protection, testing, or attacks.

🟢 White Hat – Ethical hackers who legally test systems and fix vulnerabilities
⚫ Black Hat – Malicious attackers exploiting systems for personal gain
⚪ Grey Hat – Between ethical & unethical; may find bugs without permission
🔵 Blue Hat – Security testers invited by organizations before launch
🔴 Red Hat – Aggressive defenders tracking and stopping cybercriminals
🟢 Green Hat – Beginners learning cybersecurity and hacking fundamentals
🟡 Yellow Hat – Focus on social engineering & human-based attacks
🟣 Purple Hat – Blend of Red Team (attack) and Blue Team (defense) skills
🟠 Orange Hat – Insider threats within organizations
🟤 Brown Hat – Scammers using malware & fraud techniques
🟡 Gold Hat – Highly skilled elite cybersecurity experts

Understanding these “hat roles” helps organizations build better defense strategies and helps learners choose their path in cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is not just about hacking —

it’s about thinking like an attacker to defend like a professional.

Different Types of Ethernet Cables

Understanding the Different Types of Ethernet Cables

Choosing the right network cable is essential for performance, speed, and future scalability. Here’s a simple breakdown of the most common Ethernet cable categories:

🔹 CAT3 (Category 3)
 • Speed: Up to 10 Mbps
 • Frequency: 16 MHz
 • Used for: Old telephone lines and legacy networks
📄 Mostly obsolete today.

🔹 CAT5 (Category 5)
 • Speed: Up to 100 Mbps
 • Frequency: 100 MHz
 • Used for: Early Ethernet networks
📄 Largely replaced by CAT5e.

🔹 CAT5e (Category 5 enhanced)
 • Speed: Up to 1 Gbps
 • Frequency: 100 MHz
 • Improved crosstalk reduction
📄 Still widely used in homes and small offices.

🔹 CAT6 (Category 6)
 • Speed: Up to 1 Gbps (up to 10 Gbps for shorter distances)
 • Frequency: 250 MHz
 • Better insulation and lower interference
📄 Ideal for modern office networks.

🔹 CAT6a (Category 6 augmented)
 • Speed: 10 Gbps
 • Frequency: 500 MHz
 • Better shielding and performance over longer distances
📄 Common in enterprise environments.

🔹 CAT7 (Category 7)
 • Speed: 10 Gbps
 • Frequency: 600 MHz
 • Individually shielded pairs
📄  Designed for high-performance data centers.

🔹 CAT8 (Category 8)
 • Speed: 25–40 Gbps
 • Frequency: 2000 MHz
 • High shielding, short distance (up to 30 meters)
📄  Used in data centers and high-speed server connections.

💡For most business environments today, CAT6 or CAT6a offers the best balance between performance and cost. CAT8 is mainly for specialized high-speed data center applications.

Network Cables - 3 Common types

Network Cables - 3 Common types

Network Troubleshooting

Network Troubleshooting

𝗢𝗦𝗜 𝘃𝘀 𝗧𝗖𝗣/𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀

 𝗢𝗦𝗜 𝘃𝘀 𝗧𝗖𝗣/𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀

Active Directory vs Additional Active Directory vs Read Only Active Directory

Active Directory vs Additional Active Directory vs Read Only Active Directory 

The reality of IT Administration

 The reality of IT Administration

How Companies Actually Design Their Networks

How Companies Actually Design Their Networks — And Why VLANs Are the Secret Weapon

How do companies design their networks to stay secure, scalable, and efficient?

Here's the truth most people miss: A flat network is a hacker's dream. 🚨

🔷 What Is Network Design?
Network design is the blueprint of how devices, servers, and users communicate within an organization. Think of it as the architecture of a digital building — every floor, room, and corridor is planned for performance, security, and growth.

A well-designed corporate network typically includes:
✅ Core Layer → The backbone. High-speed routers and switches that move data across the entire organization.
✅ Distribution Layer → The traffic controller. It enforces policies, filters routes, and connects the core to the access layer.
✅ Access Layer → Where end-users plug in. Desktops, laptops, IP phones, printers — all connect here.

This is called the 3-Tier Hierarchical Network Model, and it's the gold standard for enterprise network design.

🔷 Now, Enter VLANs — Virtual Local Area Networks
Imagine you have 200 employees across HR, Engineering, Finance, and Marketing — all connected to the same physical switches. Without segmentation, anyone can see everyone else's traffic. 😱

VLANs solve this by creating logical segments within the same physical network:

🟢 VLAN 10 → HR Department
🔵 VLAN 20 → Engineering
🟡 VLAN 30 → Finance
🟠 VLAN 40 → Guest Wi-Fi

Even though all departments share the same physical switches, VLANs ensure:

🔒 Security → Finance traffic is invisible to Engineering
⚡ Performance → Broadcast storms are contained within each VLAN
📏 Compliance → Regulatory requirements (PCI-DSS, HIPAA) often mandate network segmentation
🛠️ Manageability → IT teams can manage and troubleshoot each segment independently

🔷 How VLANs Work in Practice
1️⃣ A managed switch assigns each port to a specific VLAN
2️⃣ Access Ports carry traffic for a single VLAN (your desk connection)
3️⃣ Trunk Ports carry traffic for multiple VLANs between switches using 802.1Q tagging
4️⃣ A Layer 3 switch or router enables inter-VLAN routing when departments need to communicate

Real-world devices involved: 🖥️ Cisco Catalyst switches, Juniper EX series, HP Aruba switches 📡 Enterprise routers (Cisco ISR, Fortinet FortiGate) 🔥 Firewalls for inter-VLAN traffic inspection