Best DevOps Tools in 2024

Differences Between Chef Vs Puppet Vs Ansible

Chef puppet Ansible, all three are configuration management tools with a common working rule. Yes, these tools are used to deploy servers, configure them, as well as manage them simultaneously. However, each of these tools has its way of doing this operation in IT automation, making them superior in some instances than others.

We have written individual blogs about chef puppet Ansible on our pages to enlighten you with how each one works and a guide to using them in your project. In this article, we will do a comparative study about chef Vs puppet v's Ansible. The comparison in one page will help you decide on choosing the best fitting tool for your DevOps project.

At the high level, we also recommend you to enroll in our DevOps online training to talk to our industry expert trainers and learn how to implement using these tools.

Without spending more time here, we would want to take you into the actual details as we have a lot more to discuss.

Chef Vs Puppet Vs Ansible

Chef Vs Puppet Vs Ansible

Before getting into the tables just understand what chef puppet Ansible here in this section. You may click on each link to know more in detail about each tool. System administrators' life has become easier with these tools and this archetype is called as infrastructure as code.

Ansible - It is used for automating the configurations and setting up the operating system in a multi-tier deployments. Ansible being an open source tool helps in intraservice orchestration as well.

Puppet – This cross platform client server based application is primarily used for configuration management. Puppet enables individual configuration for respective hosts and controls the entire lot of infrastructure in a centralized manner.

Chef – Automating infrastructure provisioning has become very simple with a chef that is developed in Ruby language. Chef deploys, manages servers both on the cloud and in-house.

With this basic intro let us jump to the table to concurrently compare each characteristic feature of chef puppet Ansible. For more details, we insist you register for DevOps online course.

Also Read : What is a Cloud First Strategy?

Criteria	Chef	Puppet	Ansible	Comparative Study
Language	Ruby programming language	Embedded Ruby, Puppet DSL (domain-specific language)	YAML (yet another markup language), Python	Chef suits only developers, Puppet is suitable for system admins Ansible is good to go for both developers and System admins
Installation process	Chef workstation takes time in installing and hence is time-consuming.	Time-consuming due to the need that both the master and the agent require to sign the certificate.	Quick and simple	Ansible installation is a cakewalk while puppet, and chef require some expertise
Push or Pull configuration	Only Pull - Slave nodes will pull from the server without any commands.	Only Pull – Agent nodes pull from the master automatically	Both push and pull, Push happens from the central server to all nodes.	Ansible allows two-way communication, thus improves the speed.
Failure replacement option	There is a backup server in the event of failure.	The alternative master works as a replacement during failure.	The secondary tower instances will be ready to act as primary tower instances at any given time thus initiating automatically during failure.	All 3 tools are highly available during failure
Basic Architecture	Server and Workstation	Master and Agent	There are no agents, but has the only master.	Ansible seems to have an easy architecture as it has no agent or workstation and works only with the master.
Operability	The server works on - Linux, Unix, Chef clients only The workstation can work on windows in addition to all mentioned above.	Master works on Linux and Unix Whereas Agent works on Windows as well.	Since there is no agent or workstation Ansible works only on Linux and Unix.	All three shows obvious similarities.
Scalability	Due to Ruby DSL code scalability becomes challenging to deploy many servers when compared to Ansible.	However, due to Puppet DSL code being very large the scalability is less when compared to Ansible.	Highly scalable, able to handle large infrastructure just by specifying the nodes IP address and the hostname.	Ansible is highly scalable as explained in each cell.
Capability	Delivery is continuous and workflow is automated Infrastructure automation and security management.	Code management, Node management, configuration automation Transparent Orchestration Access control- Role based Provisioning is automated	Delivery is continuous and workflow is automated App development Provisioning is streamlined
Hosting cost	The annual fee for chef automation is close to USD 140 with which build and deployment can be done.	Puppet annual fee ranges between USD 110 and 199 for standard and premium plan.	The self support package is USD 5000 per annum The standard version costs 10000 USD annually and the premium version cost 14000 USD.	The chef is available for free which helps starters to learn without spending.

Are you still looking for more details? Go ahead and register for DevOps training online and learn at your convenience from home. This is an interactive virtual training where you can meet the instructor for all clarifications.

Do you want to know how to choose the best? Here you go

Chef Vs Puppet Vs Ansible

From the above table, we provided you with the best comparison in simple words, letting you choose between the 3 based on your knowledge and need. However, we also wanted to give you a clear picture with a couple of examples as to which one we will choose in which situation.

• If your team has strong developers you can choose Chef and system admin dominated teams can opt for Puppet.

• Likewise, for a cost-effective configuration go with Chef but select Ansible if you have bigger plans configuring any number of servers

• Installation is easy with Ansible, it is highly scalable and has no agents or slaves as well allowing push-pull configuration, but comes with a cost.

So the decision is yours based on your business need. We are sure that with these ideas you can at least kickstart if you are new to DevOps.

Last but most important word from us is we are just not offering DevOps certification but an experience and hence contact us to march forward as an expert in software development using DevOps methodology.

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