New Cloud Service Lets Users Manage Servers from Smartphones, Tablets

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Business servers and IT systems are a lot like babies. They require a lot of attention and that attention is usually better delivered in person. That doesn’t give IT managers or the business owners who also wear IT hats much room to roam. A new system promises to change all that.

Moesion, a new cloud-based system launched by Boca Raton, Fla., startup Tellago Studios, lets IT managers (or harried twin-hat business owners) control their servers from a smartphone or tablet computer from anywhere in the world. It eliminates the need for IT managers to be chained to their desks at the workplace or be connected remotely by a virtual private network (VPN) to manage their servers and applications.

The system works by placing an app on each server to be managed that provides mobile access to the management capabilities built into the server. Data that can be viewed include the server event log, file system being used, SQL Server Manager Studio information and server users.

If a Web server crashes or an application such as an online form stops working, for example, the IT manager is able to remotely inspect, detect and fix the problem from their mobile device and restart the website or application, said Jesus Rodriguez, Tellago's founder and CEO. It also enables managers to create and upload scripts to manage server functions remotely. There are currently 17 apps and 500 scripts available, with more in the pipeline, the company says.

The initial version of Moesion works with Microsoft servers, but the company's product roadmap calls for the addition of other platforms, including cloud-based systems. Built on HTML 5, it runs on iPhones, Windows Phones, iPads and Android phones and tablets. It provides a visual mobile interface to manage dozens of IT systems with more on the way. An icon on the mobile device represents each server.

The company is working on mobile interfaces for traditional IT systems such as Microsoft Exchange, Amazon Web services, Rackspace Cloud, VMWare, Oracle and Citrix.

"We decided to start with the Microsoft market because it is so large and we have a good relationship with Microsoft," Rodriguez told BusinessNewsDaily.

"The roadmap is to make every relevant system available remotely," said Elizabeth Redding, Tellago's president.

Moesion is not meant to be a replacement for a company's existing server management infrastructure, Rodriguez said.

"We think Moesion is complementary to your current server management tools," he said.

Moesion includes an online app store containing the latest applications and scripts to manage IT systems from a mobile device, including dozens of free applications and scripts.

There is a free edition for one user and one server that provides limited functionality and doesn't have access to the apps store. Moesion expects that the majority of customers will select the full-functioned, pay-as-you-go server edition at $30 per month per server, and the enterprise edition, which covers up to 50 servers at $850 per month.

Moesion is currently in private beta while company fine-tunes the system, but the full release is expected in a few weeks. Tellago had 200 requests to participate in the beta program within 24 hours when the preview edition was announced.

"We've been overwhelmed by the response to the private beta," Redding said.

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Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.