One of the first things you have to ask yourself when debating the purchase of an iPad is, What will I use it for?
For myself the answer to that question was rather extensive. I wanted to use it for entertainment, computing on the couch, taking notes in meetings, and managing our web servers while on the go. In other words, I wanted to use the iPad like it was a netbook. I’m happy to report that after a month with the device my netbook hasn’t been opened, and while at home, the laptop rarely is.
I could devote a post to each one of my solutions to the question above (which I’ll probably do for the next few weeks), but for today lets focus on how I’m using the iPad to manage our servers. Now ideally you’d want to do all your work from the desktop, but carrying a laptop around with you everywhere you go is both cumbersome and inconvenient. I’ve found a nice padded case from Targus which allows me to securely carry my iPad with me wherever I go. The whole package is light weight and no more cumbersome than carrying around a notepad. Power and convenience wherever you go. So let’s get to it.
One of the services we offer along with our Web Design and Development, is Hosting for your website. We do this by managing our own servers which are located at datacenters with Rackspace. To manage our direct interactions with the Rackspace service I use the Rackspace app for iPad. With this app I can manage virtually every interaction I need to have with the hardware. Reboots, backups, resizes, I can do it all, even fire up a new server to handle additional load.
iSSH is another indispensable product. iSSH allows you to do just like the name of the app suggests. You can SSH into your servers or connect via VNC. I’ve tried a few other apps of the same type on the iPad and found that this one is superior. The keyboard overlay is cleaner and you don’t lose things on the screen. It’s very readable which is a big plus when you need to get in and get out. Let’s face it, if your on the go and have to SSH into a server, your more than likely doing so because something has gone wrong. You want the most efficient and effective way of dealing with the issue, and in my opinion, for right now, this is it.
Finally we come to an excellent FTP client. With a built in text editor FTP On The Go Pro is the cream of the crop. If your not comfortable editing files through SSH this app offers a compelling alternative. FTP On The Go also allows you to download files and save them for later review or editing. If you want to access your Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF, or Image files, your covered their as well. All in all, a well rounded powerful FTP program for use away from the desktop.
So that wraps up server management on the iPad. With a huge app eco-system a best in class solution to almost any problem can be found. Am I a fanboy? I am now. Are you?
