On 8/28/2012 4:27 PM, Levi Pearson wrote: > > I have an iPad and I really like it, and I have an Android phone that I > have mixed feelings about, but if I were to spec something as a remote > admin tool I'd probably pick a netbook over a tablet. System > administration, unless you are fiddling with a web-based gui, really works > better with a physical keyboard. If the netbooks seem a bit under-specced, > maybe a chromebook? For reading PDFs or browsing the web or youtube or > facebook or whatever, tablet wins hands down, though. :) > > --Levi > > I've been using a number of Android tablets for about 8 months now for sysadmining remotely. I have a laptop that's fast and easy, and I usually just go to the tablet because it gets the job done the way I have it setup. To improve things, my recommendations:
- Use Hacker's Keyboard instead of the default keyboard your device has installed. - Actually, get a bluetooth keyboard if you can. They can help some of us. - OpenVPN works great now, but not for bridging (no tap devices). No rooting required! - Don't root your device. - Make sure you know how to task switch, and you're not going to do any impressive editing on this, but I've rebuilt an OpenVPN connection and a vhost conf for Apache from scratch on the tablet. - Don't rely on a cell connection if you can avoid it. I tether to my phone if I have to, but the latency slows you down quite a bit, and it requires working around it (I type ahead a lot to speed things up workflow-wise) - The tablet is not a good research device for serious problems that need serious fixing, so don't consider it a total replacement for all remote duties. I still bust out the laptop if I need to do some juggling in the support world. I'm not sure how to better quantify this. - Integrate something for reminders, be it email or task management or something. "I fixed service X on server Y, order replacement part Z first thing Monday." That's just my opinion on the matter, though. I still say that bluetooth fold-out keyboard would help some with their hurdles, too. -Tod Hansmann /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
