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Developers now rely on cloud infrastructure automation tools to manage their complex systems—and manual resource handling simply can't keep up as projects expand.
Developers now rely on cloud infrastructure automation tools to manage their complex systems—and manual resource handling simply can't keep up as projects expand.
As a user on Reddit says, “Much of DevOps is about the right tool in the right place.”
But, which cloud infrastructure automation tool or combination of tools should you pick? There are quite a few of them on the market.
And you just can’t test all the tools out there—you need to set them up according to your cloud infrastructure, then give a few of your team members access to test the tool, and keep trying until you find one that works best.
Instead, let’s simplify that.
We analyzed 10 of the most popular tools in the cloud infrastructure industry by connecting with people across the web who already use these tools and talk about them publicly, so you get a better perspective of the market!
HashiCorp developed Terraform to make building and managing infrastructure easier. Terraform, an open-source tool uses either HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) or JSON. you can think of Terraform as a language for code your infrastructure.
This "Infrastructure as Code" approach (IaC) means managing your infrastructure through code, leading to greater consistency and efficiency. Your infrastructure becomes repeatable and manageable.
“Terraform allows me to build AWS resources in a repeatable, documented way, just like source code or a Jupyter notebook allows you to create a programmatic solution in a repeatable, documented way.” u/ReturnOfNogginboink
Terraform's provider-agnostic approach gives developers the flexibility to work across different cloud platforms using a consistent workflow. This can be particularly valuable for organizations with multi-cloud strategies or those looking to avoid vendor lock-in.
AWS CloudFormation is Amazon's native infrastructure as code (IaC) service, designed specifically for automating AWS resource management. It helps developers to define and provision AWS infrastructure using declarative templates.
“CloudFormation has a much lower barrier of entry, which makes it much much better for simple stuff." — u/Noform5443
AWS recently made CloudFormation faster reporting up to 40% faster stack creation times. This is a big improvement for developers working with large-scale infrastructure.
Teams already using AWS greatly benefit from CloudFormation because it integrates so well with other AWS services. It becomes especially helpful for managing complex, interconnected resources within a single stack. However, there is a learning curve, especially for those new to IaC.
“CloudFormation isn't a perfect tool, but it generally works well enough. Most complaints have to do with a few quirks and it being too verbose” — u/clintkev251
Ansible is popular among developers for its simplicity and versatility in terms of automating IT infra tasks among others. Ansible also helps with provisioning automation and configuration management.
“Ansible works by connecting to nodes (or hosts) and pushing out small programs—called modules—to these nodes. Modules are used to accomplish automation tasks in Ansible” — Red Hat foundation
Ansible's straightforward YAML syntax and agentless design make it accessible to developers who may be new to infrastructure automation. Its flexibility allows it to be used for a variety of tasks beyond just cloud infrastructure, including application deployment and system configuration.
The Ansible community emphasizes readability and simplicity in automation design, which aligns well with DevOps practices focused on collaboration and shared responsibility.
“If you're fully containerized and using managed k8s ansible probably won't add a lot of value for you.” — u/Mr_Mars
Facets is a no-code infrastructure automation platform that helps you deploy cloud and infrastructure automation using Terraform, without writing Terraform code. While it started as an enterprise-only product, Facets is now focused on startups and early-stage developers who want to fast-track their way to create robust infrastructure automation and get their foundation setup before they scale.
Facets simplifies infrastructure automation, which otherwise would require having an Ops team onboard configuring everything from scratch. With the industry best practices baked into the platform, you can simply put the pieces of your infrastructure together to get your CI/CD pipelines ready and then onboard Ops experts to manage and improve upon the setup.
Puppet is a well-known configuration management tool that simplifies how you manage and deploy your infrastructure. Puppet helps system admins define the desired state of their systems using declarative language ensuring that the systems remain in the designed and defined state.
Puppet's long history in configuration management makes it a reliable choice for organizations with complex infrastructure needs that they manage over the long term. Puppet uses a declarative approach to define system states, fitting well with infrastructure-as-code principles.
Newer versions of Puppet offer better cloud integration, which makes Puppet more competitive in the infrastructure automation market.
Chef.io excels at managing and deploying infrastructure as code. It's a powerful configuration management and automation platform. You can easily ensure that every machine in your environment adheres to predefined specifications and stays consistent. This capability shines in large-scale environments where configuration drift can cause havoc.
Chef's programmability attracts developers because it uses a familiar test-driven approach. They can manage infrastructure using software development practices, which often results in more reliable and maintainable automation code.
Chef's approach to infrastructure as code fits well with continuous integration and delivery practices making it a strong choice for organizations adopting DevOps methodologies.
SaltStack, simply called Salt, gives you the power to control and automate how you set up your computer systems. Think of it as a system with a master server giving commands to minion servers. Security is key, and Salt uses AES encryption and public-key authentication to make sure all communication between the master and minions stays private.
Salt's event-driven design and speed make it great for handling lots of servers quickly. This means it works well for simple jobs like managing one server or for complicated ones like coordinating a whole network.
You can add new features to Salt easily because it's built in a modular way. This helps customize it, but it can also make Salt more complex to use.
Jenkins is an open-source automation server that powers continuous integration and delivery for software projects. It quickly became an essential tool in DevOps after forking from Hudson in 2011. Its adaptability, expandability, and strong community support set it apart.
Think of Jenkins as your robotic assistant. Every time you change your code, Jenkins builds and tests it, catching errors quickly and releasing updates faster.
Jenkins has improved its pipeline features and user interface in recent versions. These improvements address user complaints. However, managing large Jenkins installations and keeping plugins up-to-date remains a challenge.
Google Cloud Deployment Manager helps users automate cloud resource creation and management. As the name suggests, it is designed to integrate perfectly with the Google ecosystem and will be extremely beneficial if you use Google Cloud for your deployments.
Deployment Manager’s preview capabilities help developers catch potential issues before applying changes, which can be particularly valuable in complex interconnected environments.
Pulumi's innovative approach to infrastructure as code lets you work with programming languages you already know, rather than forcing you to learn domain-specific languages or templating formats from scratch.
The tool's support for strong typing and modern development practices like unit testing can lead to more robust and maintainable infrastructure code. However, it may require a mindset shift for teams accustomed to more traditional IaC approaches.
Automation tools help you manage complex cloud systems effectively. And no-code platforms like Facets let you start automating your infrastructure quickly without the overhead of hiring and learning new technologies when you’re just starting out.
It simplifies Terraform deployment and applies industry best practices, enabling your team to set up robust automation rapidly.
Facets proves especially useful for early-stage development teams looking to streamline their cloud setup process.
Want to try a new way of building infrastructure automation? Sign up for a free trial and experience how no-code can speed up your progress!