Puppet and Docker are used to perform many of the same functions, but their approaches are different. Puppet is commonly used to automate workflows, while Docker’s primary use is for building containerized apps. Puppet oversees files, packages, and services, while Docker configures documents inside a delivery unit called a container.
Puppet includes many tools that will allow you to easily configure a system, whereas Docker is used to build and deploy applications. Read on to learn more about Puppet vs Docker.
What Is Puppet?
Puppet is a configuration management software that ensures all systems are configured to a user’s preferences. Puppet allows you to create distinct configurations for different hosts and continuously confirms whether those configurations are being fulfilled.
For example, consider a system administrator working with multiple servers. They might be able to easily fix an issue on one server, but the situation will become problematic if multiple servers are down.
With Puppet, you can write simple code that will be conveyed to the servers that are experiencing issues. After the code has been run, all of the servers will return to their previous state. Puppet can also be used to deploy software and security, all through simple code.
Puppet is currently used by more than 30,000 companies, including tech giants Google and Red Hat.
What Is Docker?
Docker is a software platform used to build applications inside units called containers. It is popular among developers as containers are a lightweight and portable way to develop, test, and deploy new applications.
Docker was originally created for Linux, but it now also runs on Windows and macOS.
Docker utilizes LXC, which are also known as Linux Containers. This virtualization technology allows multiple virtual environments to be created and run on a single, isolated host.
Docker was started after several significant changes were made to LXC that made the containers more portable and versatile. With Docker containers, you can duplicate and back up a workload faster than if you were using a virtual machine.
Docker’s image tools are also an improvement on LXC. They allow a developer to build and rebuild image libraries, create applications using multiple images, and launch the applications on either local or remote infrastructures.
Docker is similar to a virtual machine, but a bit more advanced since it contains a whole virtual operating system.
Puppet vs Docker: The Most Important Differences and Similarities
Let’s explore the differences and similarities between Docker and Puppet in detail below.
Difference: Classification
Docker can be classified as a tool in the virtual machine platforms and containers category whereas Puppet is categorized as server configuration and automation software.
Difference: Function
Docker is used by developers for high-speed innovation, which enables the seamless building and sharing of applications. Puppet is only used for server automation.
Difference: Features
Docker has integrated developer tools, and shareable, usable apps, whereas Puppet’s features include discovery and provision of software.
Similarity: Open Tool
Docker and Puppet are both open-source tools, meaning that anyone can access and study its code.
Similarity: Used By Major Companies
Both Docker and Puppet are used by about 4,000 businesses, including well-known tech companies, such as Twitter, Spotify, Paypal, and Uber.
Similarity: Quick Provision System
Both Docker and Puppet are used to quickly provide new servers to roll out small but complex changes to existing machines.
Puppet vs Docker: Pros and Cons
Everything in the world has its benefits and drawbacks, including Puppet and Docker. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of the two software below.
Puppet Pros
● Open-source. It is really important that software uses open-source technology to improve its usage. Open source code is publicly accessible. Anyone can view, modify, and distribute it as they see fit. Puppet can be used to build custom libraries suitable for any type of project.
● Powerful reporting capabilities. Puppet’s reporting features are quite powerful. It has several built-in report processors. You can also write your own custom report processor to send data reports.
● Complete user interface. Puppet’s design system consists of assets, codes, behaviors, patterns, and standards that create a unified experience for users.
● Cross-platform abilities. Puppet works with a wide range of platforms, including Fedora, OS X, Debian, Gentoo, and Windows.
● Active community. Due to its popularity, Puppet has an active community with many discussion boards and forums, as well as experts who are ready to help.
Puppet Cons
● Complex language. Puppet is written in Ruby, which can be a difficult programming language to understand.
● Rapid releases. Puppet releases new versions frequently, and it can be quite a task to keep up with the new features.
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● Not suitable for small businesses. Small setups tend to use similar software Chef and Ansible rather than Puppet.
● Complexity of large infrastructures. With this software, you need to work in your own infrastructure before configuring the pieces in Puppet, which can be quite complex.
Docker Pros
● Consistency: Since the Docker environment is constantly developing, it is popular among developers. It is consistent across all operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Linux.
● Ease of debugging: Docker allows you to easily eliminate bugs from any server, regardless of the OS.
● Resources: Docker has a huge database of free images that help users create molds for the services offered in an application.
Docker Cons
● Irritating updates: Staying up to date can be important, but with Docker it might get annoying. Docker environments receive minor updates almost every day that need to be installed.
● Compatibility issues. Docker is still based on the Linux kernel. This can cause compatibility issues if you use it on Mac or Windows.
● Networking. Networking can be tricky if you want to limit access to containers.
● Learning curve. Some developers say they experienced a steep learning curve with Docker, as the software’s concepts can be challenging to understand.
Should You Use Puppet or Docker?
It depends. Both Puppet and Docker are excellent for different reasons.
Advantages of Choosing Puppet
- Puppet is a great DevOps program for managing multiple servers. It uses a declarative, model-based approach to IT automation. This enables Puppet to enforce system configuration with programs.
- Due to its deployment and recovery speed, Puppet can save you time.
- Puppet is supported by larger, open-source developer platforms and works well on a large infrastructure because it automates repetitive tasks.
- With Puppet, you will have access to hundreds of pages of references online to help you learn more about the language and resources of the software.
- Puppet’s graphical user interface is advanced and can be used for managing, viewing, and monitoring.
- Puppet has a feature called idempotency which means that changes are only made to the system when required.
Advantages of Choosing Docker
- A major advantage of using Docker is ROI. The idea behind Docker is that it’s better to have as few assets as possible when running applications.
- Docker allows for smaller engineering groups. The smaller infrastructure requirements of Docker means that companies can save money on server costs and staff.
- One advantage of Docker is that you can build a container image at every step of the deployment process. This speeds up the production process.
- One of the biggest upsides to Docker is its portability. Over the last few years, major cloud computing providers such as Amazon Web Services have started using Docker due to its lightweight packaging of applications.
- Docker guarantees your applications and resources are safe and isolated. Each container is completely separated from the others.
- Docker ensures clean app removal. If you no longer need an application, you can simply delete its container. Since each application runs on its own container, you won’t end up accidentally deleting an app you need.
The client-server architecture of Docker allows the client to build, run, and distribute the containers. Since it is standardized across OS systems, developers can easily fix bugs in the application.
Puppet can be used to make changes to an application by reconfiguring the server. As the user, you can write simple code that will be conveyed to the servers that are experiencing issues.
Now that you know more about both of these software tools, you can choose which one is best suited to your needs.
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