The Rackspace Cloud, the cloud computing division of Rackspace Hosting, has introduced Cloud Pro, its first application for the new Apple iPad, which enables developers to monitor and manage their Rackspace cloud servers.
The new Cloud Pro app allows users to turn on backups for a server, create new servers from backups, manage back-up scheduling, re-boot, rename, resize and delete servers, using iPad’s touchscreen interface, Rackspace said.
Mike Mayo, developer at Rackspace Hosting, said: “It’s amazing to think about how the iPad tablet and cloud servers can lower the entry barriers for web start-ups everywhere because they no longer have to make large investments in hardware to get their businesses going.”
According to Rackspace, the new application also offers a panel on the login screen that shows users the current system status of the entire Rackspace Cloud and displays the US and UK Rackspace support numbers. It also allows users to ping the public IP address for a cloud server to check the responsiveness of their server.
The Rackspace Cloud was designed to encourage developers to build tools and applications for the company’s open APIs to enhance its cloud with community-driven features and functionality.
Lew Moorman, president of cloud and chief strategy officer of Rackspace Hosting, said: “As we build out our cloud, we expect to become more visible around the issues of openness, data access and customer choice.
“Our goal is to allow our customers to be able to choose the services, applications, databases and OSs they want to use in a non-proprietary environment without the fear of being locked into one particular cloud.”
