IT knowledge base
Practical guides on security, networking, Wi-Fi, backup, asset management and compliance, written in plain language with checklists you can use.
Antivirus, EDR, XDR and MDR: what's the difference?
A plain-language guide to endpoint protection levels, what each really does, and how much a small or mid-size organisation needs.
Read the guideChoosing and configuring a business firewall
UTM versus NGFW, how to read throughput numbers, rule design, VPN, and a hardening checklist you can use today.
Read the guideSwitches explained: managed, PoE, VLANs and planning
Unmanaged versus managed, PoE standards and power budgets, VLANs, uplinks and a practical port-planning method.
Read the guideWi-Fi design guide: standards, access points and survey basics
Wi-Fi 5, 6, 6E and 7 compared, how to plan coverage and capacity, channel choices, security and what a site survey tells you.
Read the guideBackup, cloud storage and recovery: a practical guide
Sync versus backup, RPO and RTO, the 3-2-1-1-0 rule, ransomware resilience and how to size and test your backups.
Read the guideIT asset management: a practical guide
What to track, how to discover it, lifecycle stages, licences and warranties, and how to retire equipment responsibly.
Read the guideCERT-In, DPDP and your IT: a plain-language overview
What India's incident-reporting directions and data-protection law mean for everyday IT practice. General information, not legal advice.
Read the guideNo guides match. Ask us instead.
What's out there, and how to choose.
Examples of widely used products, listed for orientation only. IT SupportSphere is vendor-neutral: being named here does not imply any partnership or endorsement. We recommend based on your needs, budget, licensing and local support availability.
| Category | Commonly used options (examples) | How to choose | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Endpoint protection / EDR / XDR | Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Sophos, ESET, Bitdefender, Trend Micro, Wazuh (open source) | Match to who will watch alerts; consider MDR if no one will | Guide |
| Firewalls / UTM / NGFW | Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Sophos, SonicWall, WatchGuard, Cisco, pfSense / OPNsense, MikroTik | Size on threat-protection throughput and VPN needs | Guide |
| Switching | Cisco / Meraki, HPE Aruba, Juniper, Ubiquiti, TP-Link Omada, Netgear, D-Link | Check PoE budget, uplinks and management features | Guide |
| Wi-Fi / access points | Ubiquiti UniFi, TP-Link Omada, Aruba, Ruckus, Cisco Meraki, Juniper Mist, Fortinet | Choose management model, Wi-Fi generation and PoE class | Guide |
| Backup and cloud storage | Veeam, Acronis, Synology, Microsoft 365 backup tools, S3-compatible object storage, restic / Borg | Immutability, restore speed, data location, fees | Guide |
| Asset management | Snipe-IT, GLPI, Lansweeper, ManageEngine, Microsoft Intune, spreadsheet | Start simple; add discovery as you grow | Guide |
| Productivity and cloud | Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Azure, AWS, Google Cloud | Pick for apps, skills and security features | Guide |
More ways to learn and plan
A quick-reference database for everyday work, real-world scenarios and public incident lessons, and calculators that run privately in your browser.
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