Sanu Varghesehttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/Daily tech brief, tutorials and blogDaily brief: Sunday 18 October 2026https://sanuvarghese.co.uk/daily/2026-10-18.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/daily/2026-10-18.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000A record-sized Patch Tuesday with an exploited Windows zero-day, new Exchange updates, GPT-6 in ChatGPT, new Claude models, and Cisco putting AI agents into meetings.DHCP backups: what Windows does for you, and what it doesn'thttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/posts/dhcp-backups.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/posts/dhcp-backups.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000Windows quietly backs up DHCP every hour. Here's why I still export it nightly, and the short script that does it.Five rules for using AI safely in IT supporthttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/posts/ai-safely-in-it-support.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/posts/ai-safely-in-it-support.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000AI tools save time on tickets and scripts, but a few habits keep client data safe and stop bad commands reaching live systems.Set a static IP address on Windows Serverhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/static-ip-windows-server.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/static-ip-windows-server.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000Give a server a fixed address so drive maps, printers and logins always find it. Click by click, plus the PowerShell way.Host your own website for free: GoDaddy, Cloudflare and GitHubhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/host-website-godaddy-cloudflare-github.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/host-website-godaddy-cloudflare-github.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000Buy a domain, move its DNS to Cloudflare, host the site on Cloudflare Workers and publish automatically from GitHub. Exactly how this site is built.Add a reverse lookup zone to Windows DNShttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/dns-reverse-lookup-zone.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/dns-reverse-lookup-zone.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000Turn IP addresses back into names, so logs and troubleshooting tools show which machine is which.Create a DHCP scope on Windows Serverhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/dhcp-scope-windows-server.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/dhcp-scope-windows-server.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000Hand out addresses, gateway and DNS automatically from your own server, without clashing with the router.Allow ping through Windows Firewallhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/allow-ping-windows-server.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/tutorials/allow-ping-windows-server.htmlSun, 18 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000Why a healthy Windows server ignores ping by default, and the one-line fix for labs and troubleshooting.Building a Windows domain at home on Windows 11 Homehttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/posts/home-lab-domain-controller.htmlhttps://sanuvarghese.co.uk/posts/home-lab-domain-controller.htmlSat, 17 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000No Hyper-V, no problem. How I built a Windows Server 2025 domain controller with DNS and DHCP using free VMware Workstation.