Not every technical milestone comes with clean code or a polished screenshot. Sometimes progress looks like late nights, library Wi-Fi, and failed ISOs.
I’ve been balancing this lab build across two laptops and a tablet. One laptop runs Ubuntu — that’s my YouTube reference system for following the tutorial. The other runs Windows 11 Pro and hosts my VirtualBox environment where I build the machines.
My internet access is currently WiFi-based and runs through NordVPN — not optional. The VPN is required, but it severely impacts speed. My Windows Server download failed overnight after hours of progress. Kali Linux — using Oracle’s preconfigured appliance — also failed midway. I suspect the network where I’m staying throttles large downloads or kills them silently.
I tried switching locations to the local library. New state, new city, new layout — every system feels slightly different. One thing I forgot: libraries don’t really use Google the way I expected. The icon’s there, but it’s easier to just type URLs into the browser bar directly. And of course, Saturday means closing at 5pm. I got kicked out before I could finish the download.
It’s all still in progress — slowly but steadily coming together. Some machines are partially built. Some configs are still on paper. But it’s happening. I’m not quitting.
This is the real part of learning cybersecurity no one talks about: failing at download speeds, troubleshooting DNS by flashlight, trying again in a new place the next day. This isn’t fluff — it’s foundation.