Free Tools for IT, Networking & Security
A growing collection of free tools for diagnosing networks, troubleshooting email, planning infrastructure, generating server config, and verifying security — built by Datastrive, a Chicago managed IT and cybersecurity provider. Everything runs in your browser. No signups. No upsell.
- Privacy-first — nothing leaves your browser
- Built by working IT pros
- New tools added regularly
Email & DNS Tools
Diagnose deliverability problems, verify email authentication, and look up DNS records for any domain. Useful for troubleshooting “email isn’t getting delivered,” investigating phishing, and confirming SPF / DKIM / DMARC configuration.
Email Security Checker
Test SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and MX records for any domain. Letter-grade scoring with specific fix recommendations.
Run a checkEmail Header Analyzer
Paste raw email headers; see auth results, hop-by-hop delivery path, originating IP, and red flags.
Analyze headersDNS Lookup Tool
Query A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, CNAME, SOA, and CAA records in one shot, with smart SPF / DMARC / DKIM labeling.
Look up a domainSecurity & Authentication Tools
Generate strong passwords and verify the SSL/TLS certificates protecting your domains. Both run entirely in your browser — nothing is logged, transmitted, or stored anywhere outside your device.
Password Generator
Generate secure passwords offline — memorable phrases, fully random, or numeric PINs. Cryptographic randomness, never logged.
Generate a passwordSSL Certificate Checker
Look up issuer, expiration date, hostname coverage, and renewal history for any domain via Certificate Transparency logs.
Check a certificateNetwork Design Tools
Plan IP addressing, aggregate CIDR blocks, and lay out VLAN segmentation for any network — from a small office to a multi-site deployment. Useful for new builds, firewall consolidations, migrations, and the “wait, what’s VLAN 47 again?” moments six months later.
Subnet Calculator
IP / CIDR / mask conversion with live binary visualization, host range, classification, and a complete CIDR reference table.
Open the calculatorVLAN ID Planner
Plan VLAN IDs, names, IP subnets, and gateways in an editable table. Validates duplicates, auto-saves, exports CSV.
Plan a VLAN schemeCIDR Aggregator
Collapse IP lists, ranges, and CIDR blocks into the smallest covering set. IPv4 and IPv6 supported, runs entirely in your browser.
Aggregate CIDRsServer Configuration Tools
Generate web server config and root-level metadata files without memorizing the syntax. Apache .htaccess, Nginx server blocks, robots.txt, and llms.txt — with input validation, live previews, and copy/download for every output.
.htaccess Generator
Build redirects, force HTTPS, IP blocking, password protection, security headers, and more for Apache web servers.
Generate configNginx Config Generator
Generate a complete Nginx server block with modern TLS, security headers, rate limiting, caching, and reverse proxy.
Generate server blockrobots.txt Builder
Build a robots.txt with per-bot rule groups. WordPress preset, AI-blocking preset, validates common mistakes.
Build robots.txtllms.txt Generator
Build the AI-readable site map for your website. Live Markdown preview, spec validation, and templates for common site types.
Build llms.txtSurveillance & Cabling Tools
Tools for scoping camera systems and structured cabling — sizing NVR storage and verifying cable runs against TIA-568 channel limits and IEEE PoE specs. The cluster Datastrive’s low-voltage and structured-cabling team uses to scope real jobs.
CCTV Storage Calculator
Size NVR storage by camera count, resolution, frame rate, codec, and retention — with drive size and RAID recommendations.
Calculate storageCable Length Calculator
Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6A distance limits with PoE derating, plus a fiber distance reference (OM3 / OM4 / OM5 / OS2). Meters and feet.
Check a runReference & Lookup
Curated reference tables for the things you don’t need to memorize but always end up looking up — common TCP/UDP ports, the full DNS record-type catalog, and HTTP status codes including Cloudflare-specific 5xx codes. Better than digging through Wikipedia, faster than IANA, with security and operational context the official sources don’t include.
Common Ports Reference
Searchable reference for ~150 TCP and UDP ports working IT pros actually encounter, with security notes for each.
Look up a portDNS Records Reference
64 DNS record types organized by category, with the actual syntax and use cases working sysadmins encounter.
Browse record typesHTTP Status Code Reference
64 HTTP status codes from 1xx through 5xx plus Cloudflare-specific 5xx codes, with actionable context for each.
Look up a status codeDeveloper Utilities
Quick utilities for the day-to-day developer and security-engineering workflow — encoding, decoding, inspecting. Everything client-side, nothing logged, no data leaves your browser.
Business & Operations
Tools for the buying, planning, and right-sizing decisions that aren’t about a single packet or port — the questions that determine what your IT spend looks like for the next year.
Why these tools exist
Datastrive is a Chicago managed IT and cybersecurity provider. We design networks, run helpdesks, install camera systems, secure email, harden web servers, and answer “is this configured correctly?” questions for businesses across the Chicago area.
The tools on this page are the same diagnostic and configuration tools our own engineers reach for — checking SSL certs before a renewal, tracing email headers when a customer reports a deliverability problem, generating .htaccess rules for a hardened WordPress site, sizing storage for a 24-camera retail deployment, looking up a port we haven’t touched in three years. We rebuilt them as free public tools because the existing options were either ad-laden, paywall-gated, or required signups for things that should take 30 seconds.
What you won’t find here: ads, signups, tracking pixels, “premium” tiers, dark patterns, or anything that uploads your data to our servers. Where a tool needs an external API (DNS lookups, SSL certificate checks, email auth records), it’s documented on the page so you know what’s happening.
If a tool is missing or broken, or you’d like to suggest something new, reach us through the contact page. The tools are maintained based on what people actually use them for.
Need help with the rest of it?
If a free tool flags something you’d like real help fixing, that’s what Datastrive does for a living — managed IT, cybersecurity, structured cabling, and camera systems for small and mid-sized businesses across the Chicago area.
Talk to Datastrive →