Five Android apps for IT admins

If you're an IT Administrator (or even a developer who's lucky enough to "own" the server your apps run on), you've seen this go down before - you're out and about, having a great time when the phone rings. Something is horribly broken and needs your magic touch right away. Surely it's as simple as bouncing a system process - 2 minutes tops!

Unfortunately, you're nowhere near a PC to type in the10 keystrokes to repair any damage done to the corporation's bottom line.

But wait! You have your trusty Android phone and with it being the 21st century and allyou should have the power to get the help desk off your back on the go, shouldn't you?

Yes, you should - but you'll need some apps and here's five to get you heading in the right direction:

AndFTP

If you need to move files around between servers while on the go AndFTP is a great tool for the job. Sporting both a device file browser and a FTP file browser, this free app supports not only regular FTP uploads and downloads, but also the SFTP and FTPS protocols and resume support.


connectbot

The primary goal that the free and Open Source app connectbot sets out to achieve is to offer a secure connection through which you can use a shell on a remote machine and transfer files back and forth to your phone. Now before you start thinking that just because you work on Windows servers a secure shell won't do diddly for you, read on...

android-vnc-viewer

VNC viewer is a free and Open Source remote desktop control app for the Android platform forked from tightVNC viewer. There's some expected trickiness when it comes to sending right clicks, "Ctrl" and "Alt" keystrokes, but overall, the experience is well done. Also, if you have security concerns about connecting over the air, you can tunnel your connection through the previously mentioned connectbot for that extra piece of mind.

Network Discovery

If you're a fan of nmap then you'll probably like Network Discovery. While not a fully featured as its UNIX counterpart, Network Discovery is a free and Open Source app that lets you discover machines that are connected to the wireless network you're on, scan to see which ports are open, and optionally connect to them.

Server Down Alarm

Offering a 15-day trial version, Server Down Alarm is the only app on this list that requires cash to go "pro", but at $3.99, it seems like a good deal. Basically, the app monitors a specified listing of websites and servers and will sound off an alarm to wake you up (or if not the middle of the night, just get your attention) if one of the servers seems to be down. Also, if you don't need a detailed listing of all status, Server Down Alarm also adds a widget to your home screen giving a summary of all server statuses.

Of course, there's a lot more out there than these five - IT Admins - what else is there? Share 'em in the comments!

Tags: admin, android, apps, desktop, files, FTP, IT, mobile, network, phone, remote, server, support, vnc, wireless