Articles

Technical and buying guides for technology infrastructure.

SmashByte Wireless backhaul purchasing

Why WISPs Are Replacing Legacy Backhaul

Legacy T1s and cable modems cannot support modern fixed-wireless capacity. Here is what WISPs are upgrading to and why.

SmashByte Wireless backhaul purchasing

Dedicated Internet Versus Broadband for Tower Backhaul

Consumer broadband is cheap until it is not. Compare SLA, symmetry, IP addressing and support for tower backhaul.

SmashByte Wireless backhaul purchasing

Fiber Backhaul Versus Licensed Microwave

When does fiber win, when does licensed microwave win, and when do you need both?

SmashByte Wireless backhaul purchasing

When a WISP Should Upgrade From 1G to 10G

Capacity planning signals, oversubscription math and the business case for a 10G backhaul circuit.

SmashByte Wireless tower networking

How Many Public IP Addresses Does a WISP Tower Need?

A practical guide to subnet sizing, customer counts, CGNAT and public IPv4 planning per tower.

SmashByte Wireless tower networking

Static Routing Versus BGP for WISPs

When static routes are enough, when you need BGP, and what a growing WISP should plan for.

SmashByte Wireless tower networking

ASN and BGP Requirements for Growing WISPs

How to request an ASN, get IP space, build a routing policy and peer for redundancy.

SmashByte Wireless tower networking

Route Failover Between Two Backhaul Providers

BGP path selection, prepends, route maps and last-resort default-route failover.

SmashByte Wireless tower security

WISP Tower Cybersecurity Checklist

A practical checklist for securing routers, management traffic and physical access at remote tower sites.

SmashByte Wireless tower security

Securing Routers at Unattended Tower Sites

Default credentials, management VLANs, SSH hardening and out-of-band access for remote routers.

SmashByte Wireless tower security

Protecting Tower Infrastructure From DDoS Attacks

Why WISP towers make attractive targets and how to mitigate volumetric and protocol attacks.

SmashByte Security endpoint operations

What Is Autonomous Endpoint Management?

How autonomous endpoint management reduces manual work for IT teams and MSPs.

SmashByte Security endpoint operations

RMM Versus Endpoint Management

Where traditional RMM ends and modern endpoint management begins.

SmashByte Security patch management

Patch Management Policy Template

A practical patch management policy template for MSPs and internal IT teams.

SmashByte Security patch management

How Quickly Should Critical Vulnerabilities Be Patched?

SLA targets, risk prioritization and the business case for fast patching.

SmashByte Security backup recovery

Endpoint Backup Versus Traditional Server Backup

Why endpoint backup is a separate discipline from server backup.

SmashByte Security protect

How to Secure Remote Employees

A practical guide to endpoint, identity and network security for distributed teams.

SmashByte Security respond recover

What Happens During a Ransomware Attack?

The timeline of a ransomware incident and what your response plan should cover.

SmashByte Security respond recover

How to Build an Incident Response Plan

A step-by-step framework for building an incident response plan that actually works.

SmashByte Security identify govern

Cybersecurity Checklist for a 50-Person Company

A prioritized security checklist for a growing company with limited IT staff.

SmashByte Security identify govern

Cybersecurity Checklist for WISPs

A WISP-specific security checklist covering towers, offices and customer data.

SmashByte Security identify govern

MSP Security Stack Guide

How MSPs build a defensible, profitable security stack.

SmashByte Security govern

Preparing for a Cyber Insurance Questionnaire

What insurers ask and how to prepare evidence before renewal.

SmashByte Security patch management

How to Measure Patch Compliance

Metrics and dashboards that prove patching is working.

SmashByte Security detect respond

EDR Versus MDR Versus Antivirus

The differences between EDR, MDR and traditional antivirus, and when each fits.

SmashByte Security identify govern

Five Signs Your IT Environment Is Not Fully Managed

Warning signs that your endpoints, patching or monitoring have gaps.

SmashByte Software licensing

Per-User Versus Per-Device Software Licensing

How to choose between per-user and per-device licensing models.

SmashByte Software licensing

Monthly Versus Annual Software Agreements

Trade-offs between monthly flexibility and annual discounts.

SmashByte Software spend management

How to Audit SaaS Spending

A practical process for finding unused licenses and duplicate tools.

SmashByte Software renewals

How to Build a Software Renewal Calendar

Stop getting surprised by auto-renewals with a simple renewal calendar.

SmashByte Software spend management

Preventing Duplicate Software Purchases

Why duplicate tools happen and how procurement can stop them.

SmashByte Software procurement

Software Procurement Checklist

A checklist for evaluating, purchasing and onboarding software.

SmashByte Software msp

How MSPs Build Standardized Client Stacks

Benefits and challenges of standardizing client software stacks.

SmashByte Software spend management

How to Calculate True Software Cost Per Employee

Include licenses, support, implementation and admin overhead.

SmashByte Software consolidation

When to Replace Five Point Solutions With One Platform

Signs that consolidation will save more than it costs.

SmashByte Servers sizing

How to Size a Server for 10,000 Concurrent Sessions

CPU, memory, network and storage considerations for high-concurrency workloads.

SmashByte Servers gpu

CPU Versus GPU Workloads

When to use CPUs, when to use GPUs, and when you need both.

SmashByte Servers economics

Bare Metal Versus Cloud Economics

A framework for comparing bare-metal and cloud costs over time.

SmashByte Servers economics

When Cloud Egress Becomes More Expensive Than Colocation

How data transfer costs can flip the cloud vs. colocation decision.

SmashByte Servers storage

NVMe RAID Design for High-Write Applications

RAID levels, endurance and throughput for write-heavy workloads.

SmashByte Servers telecom

Server Architecture for Telecom Applications

Latency, redundancy and real-time requirements for telecom infrastructure.

SmashByte Servers gpu

GPU Capacity Planning for Speech Recognition

How to estimate GPU resources for real-time speech recognition workloads.

SmashByte Servers redundancy

Building Redundant Infrastructure Across Two Data Centers

Active-passive and active-active designs for multi-site resilience.

SmashByte Servers networking

10G, 25G and 100G Server Networking

When to upgrade server network speeds and what it changes in your design.

SmashByte Servers economics

CapEx Versus OpEx for Infrastructure Purchases

How financing and ownership models affect cash flow, taxes and total cost.

SmashByte Servers real time systems

Redis and Database Infrastructure for Real-Time Systems

How to design Redis, in-memory caches and databases for low-latency, real-time workloads.

SmashByte Capital financing

Equipment Financing for Technology Projects

How technology equipment financing works and when it fits your project.

SmashByte Capital infrastructure

Server and Data Center Financing

CapEx-to-OpEx options for servers, storage and data-center builds.

SmashByte Capital financing

Software Financing and SaaS Term Loans

Finance multi-year SaaS agreements and perpetual licenses without draining cash.

SmashByte Capital financing

CapEx Versus OpEx for Technology Purchases

Convert large technology purchases into predictable operating expenses.

SmashByte Capital infrastructure

WISP Network and Tower Financing

Financing strategies for towers, backhaul and CPE deployments.