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Plain-English answers to the technology questions that come up in a modern business.

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Eaglepedia is Red Eagle Tech's technology encyclopaedia - short, answer-first explanations of the terms and concepts you meet when working with software and data. No jargon, no sales pitch, just clear answers.

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File security

What is a polyglot file?

One file that two different parsers each read as their own format, which is why content validation has a ceiling.

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Magic bytes vs file extensions

An extension is a claim and magic bytes are evidence, but neither one is proof. What each check really establishes.

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What is the EICAR test file?

A harmless 68-character file every antivirus engine agrees to flag, and how to use it to prove your scanning works.

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What is a zip bomb?

A small archive that expands to an enormous size and exhausts whatever opens it, including your scanner.

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What is a web shell?

The script an attacker leaves behind so that closing the original hole changes nothing, and how uploads deliver one.

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What is SVG XSS?

SVG is a document rather than a picture, so an uploaded image can carry scripts. Four controls that contain it.

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What is MIME sniffing?

When the browser reads the first few bytes and decides it knows better than the content type you declared.

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What is CSV injection?

How an export feature hands someone else's formula to a colleague's spreadsheet, and why sanitisation does not fix it.

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Synchronous vs asynchronous scanning

Hold the request until you know, or accept the file now and find out shortly. What each choice really costs.

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Fail-open vs fail-closed

Your scanner is down and a file has arrived. What happens next is a decision, whether or not anyone made it.

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What is the ICAP protocol?

How a network gateway hands a file to an external scanner, and why your application probably works differently.

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What is an air-gapped network?

No connection to the outside world, and one very well-worn path across the gap that carries all the risk.

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What is a data diode?

Hardware that lets data out and physically cannot let anything back in. It guarantees direction, not safety.

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What is a cross-domain solution?

Moving data between a secret network and a less secret one without joining them, and who actually needs one.

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Power BI

Microsoft Fabric vs Power BI

How the two relate - Microsoft Fabric is a unified analytics platform, and Power BI is one of its workloads. Plus which one you need.

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Does Power BI work on Mac?

Power BI Desktop is Windows-only, but you can still use Power BI on a Mac - through the browser-based service, a Windows virtual machine or a cloud Windows PC.

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Power BI report vs dashboard

How a multi-page, interactive report differs from a single-page dashboard of pinned tiles - and which one to use.

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What is the Power BI gateway?

The software that securely bridges the cloud Power BI service to data on your own network - what it is, why you need it, and standard vs personal mode.

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What is row-level security in Power BI?

The feature that restricts which rows of data each person sees in a report - how roles and DAX rules work, plus static vs dynamic RLS.

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Import vs DirectQuery in Power BI

Power BI's two storage modes - how Import loads a copy of your data while DirectQuery queries the source live, and which to use.

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What is a semantic model in Power BI?

The data model behind a Power BI report - the tables, relationships and DAX calculations, plus why it used to be called a dataset.

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What is a star schema in Power BI?

The data model design Microsoft recommends for Power BI - what fact tables and dimension tables are, and why it matters.

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Measures vs calculated columns

The two ways to calculate in Power BI - how a measure differs from a calculated column, and when to use each one.

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What is Power Query?

The data preparation tool in Power BI and Excel - what Power Query is, what it does, and how it compares to DAX.

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What is DAX in Power BI?

The formula language behind Power BI calculations - what DAX is, what it does, and how it compares to Excel formulas.

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What is Power BI?

A plain-English guide to Microsoft's business analytics platform - what it is, what it does, and who it is for.

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Power BI Desktop vs Power BI Service

How Power BI Desktop, the report-building app, differs from the Power BI service, the cloud platform for sharing.

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Is Power BI free?

The freemium model behind Power BI: what is genuinely free, what the paid Pro and Premium licences cost.

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Power BI Pro vs Premium

How the paid Power BI licences compare: Power BI Pro, Premium Per User and Premium or Fabric capacity.

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Is Power BI part of Office 365?

Whether a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription includes Power BI: the answer, plus the one plan that bundles it.

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Bespoke software development

What is the software development lifecycle (SDLC)?

The stages every software project moves through - discovery, requirements, design, build, testing, launch and maintenance - and why knowing them helps you stay in control.

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What is a software discovery phase?

The structured planning stage at the start of a project, where the problem, users, scope, budget and plan are agreed before any code is written.

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Functional vs non-functional requirements

What the software must do versus how well it must do it - and why the non-functional kind is the one buyers most often forget.

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What is a proof of concept (PoC)?

A small, time-boxed experiment that tests whether a risky or uncertain idea will work, before you commit to a full build.

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What is a statement of work (SoW)?

The contract document that sets out exactly what will be delivered - the deliverables, milestones, timeline, acceptance criteria and price.

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Fixed-price vs time and materials

The two main ways to pay for custom software - a fixed price for a defined scope, or payment for the time and resources actually used.

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What is staff augmentation?

Bringing in external developers to work as an extension of your own team - how it differs from outsourcing and from a dedicated team.

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What is source code escrow?

The arrangement that holds a copy of your software's source code with a neutral third party, releasing it to you if your supplier fails.

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What is software testing?

What software testing covers, the main types you will hear named, and the difference between the supplier's QA and your own acceptance testing.

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What is user acceptance testing (UAT)?

The final testing stage, run by your own users, that confirms the software does what the business needs before you accept and pay for it.

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What is software maintenance and support?

The ongoing work that keeps bespoke software running, secure and useful after launch - the four types of maintenance, support agreements and SLAs.

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What is scope creep?

The gradual, uncontrolled expansion of a project's scope after work starts - why it happens, why it overruns budgets, and how to prevent it.

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Wireframes, mockups and prototypes

The three design artefacts you are shown early in a project - a layout sketch, a visual mockup and an interactive prototype - and how they differ.

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What is a sprint?

The short, fixed-length cycle of work in Agile development that ends with a working, demonstrable piece of your software.

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What are Agile ceremonies?

The small set of regular meetings - planning, stand-ups, reviews and retrospectives - that keep an Agile project on track.

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Scrum vs Kanban

The two most common Agile delivery frameworks - fixed sprints versus continuous flow - and which suits which project.

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IT governance

What is IT governance?

How a business directs, oversees and gets value from its technology - the decisions, roles and controls that keep IT aligned with what the organisation needs.

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What is IT risk management?

How a business spots, ranks and reduces the things that could go wrong with its technology - and why it belongs in the boardroom, not just the server room.

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What is an IT audit?

An independent check of how well an organisation's IT is run, secured and controlled - what an audit covers, who runs it and what the report tells you.

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What is an acceptable use policy (AUP)?

The policy that sets the rules for how staff may use company IT, email and internet - what it should cover and why every business needs one.

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What is ITIL?

The most widely used framework for running IT as a set of services - what ITIL is, what it is for and what a non-technical buyer needs to know.

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What is COBIT?

The framework that helps a board govern and get value from IT - what COBIT is, and how it differs from a delivery framework like ITIL.

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What is IT service management (ITSM)?

The discipline of running IT as a set of services with clear standards - what ITSM means and how it relates to ITIL.

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Cyber Essentials vs ISO 27001

The two security credentials UK businesses are most often asked for, compared - cost, effort, depth and when each one is the right choice.

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What is business continuity?

Keeping a business running through disruption - what a continuity plan covers, who owns it and why it is more than an IT concern.

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What is disaster recovery?

Getting IT systems and data back after an outage - what disaster recovery covers and how it differs from business continuity.

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RTO and RPO explained

The two recovery targets behind every continuity plan - how much data you can afford to lose, and how fast systems must be back.

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What is a business impact analysis (BIA)?

The exercise that works out which systems matter most and how quickly each must recover - the groundwork that sets your RTO and RPO.

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What is a managed service provider (MSP)?

An external company that runs your IT day to day for a fixed monthly fee - what an MSP does and how the model works.

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What is co-managed IT?

The model where your in-house IT person stays and an external team adds depth around them - when co-managed IT beats fully managed or fully internal.

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Break-fix vs managed IT services

The two ways to buy IT support - pay per incident, or a managed monthly contract - and how each shapes your cost and risk.

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What is a service level agreement (SLA)?

The written promise of response times and uptime in an IT contract - what an SLA covers and what to check before you sign one.

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