Cloud Configuration Management Tools

Venkata Ravella

Jul 28, 2022 / 3 min read

Synopsys Cloud

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The cloud has brought substantial computing power to virtually anyone, leading to innovations and advances. For organizations migrating to the cloud, cloud configuration management is key to establishing efficiency between hardware and software. By maintaining cloud applications and modifying network configurations, user access, and security controls, cloud configuration management tools can ensure the long-term success of your team.

As the name suggests, cloud configuration management involves configuring your hardware and software elements within a cloud environment so they can efficiently and safely communicate. Cloud management (CM) tools allow you to automate various configuration states.

This article will provide a list of the top five cloud configuration management tools as well as discuss the benefits of a centralized cloud configuration.

Top Configuration Management Tools

In the cloud, multiple tools provide automation for infrastructure, compliance, and security management. Configuration management tools allow increased consistency, faster provisioning,  better version control on configurations, required governance & control, and speedier recovery from critical events.

Some of the most popular configuration management tools include:

 

Puppet

Puppet is a cloud configuration management tool that deals with IT inventory on your cloud. Puppet uses declarative language to describe the system configuration in organized modules. Its biggest competitor is Chef.

 

Chef

Chef is a platform for managing servers in the cloud, on-premises, or in a hybrid environment. Similar to Puppet, it deals with managing infrastructure, configuration, and deployment.

 

Ansible

Ansible is a comparatively new tool that allows for the automation of provisioning, configuration management, orchestration, and deployment. It is an open-source platform that can help with IT infrastructure automation.

 

Terraform

Terraform has become quite popular in recent years Although it is not explicitly a CM tool, it allows existing tools to better bootstrap and initialize resources. It focuses on a higher-level abstraction of the data center and relevant resources while allowing CM tools in individual systems. 

 

SaltStack

SaltStack is an intelligent, event-driven automation software with convenient integration into many cloud providers such as Amazon Web services (AWS) and Google Cloud.

Centralized Cloud Configuration Benefits

Ensuring everyone on a large team knows, tracks, and understands all your configuration data can be difficult. Having a centralized cloud configuration, however, ensures that each sub-team is working from the same core configuration. This process leads to faster deployment, more uptime, and better security. 

A centralized cloud configuration has various services distributed across virtual machines, containers, and geographic regions, and provides multiple benefits. 

  • Security. A centralized cloud configuration platform can minimize security breaches. Working with your CM systems through a centralized platform can simplify access to controls, certificate expirations, and password management.
  • Higher Uptime. To reduce downtime, individuals should be able to address configuration issues as they arise. Keeping this uptime starts with understanding your infrastructure, ultimately allowing for better configuration management.
  • Better Transparency. Without a record of the “configuration truth,” deployments can get complicated and lead to tool sprawl. With a centralized cloud platform, you can more easily understand the impact of your configuration changes. You’ll be able to track various configuration changes to see how they affect security, cost, and performance.
  • Faster Deployment. Working in an increasingly complex and growing environment can make tracking and understanding changes difficult. You can keep everyone on the same page through a centralized configuration solution to reduce the time it takes to track down various misconfigurations that can slow down deployment time. 
  • Cost Savings. Minimizing downtime, upgrading security, and allowing for faster deployment can collectively result in more revenue. Without high-quality CM tools, you might waste time and manpower, as your organization needs to continually track down issues. Centralized cloud configuration management helps your team arrive at solutions faster.

With Synopsys Cloud, configuration management is built into the service so that you can focus on the actual work you need to accomplish. If you are using your own cloud, Synopsys Cloud Configuration can examine and review your cloud configuration to identify weaknesses in infrastructure, architecture, and security.

Synopsys, EDA, and the Cloud

Synopsys is the industry’s largest provider of electronic design automation (EDA) technology used in the design and verification of semiconductor devices, or chips. With Synopsys Cloud, we’re taking EDA to new heights, combining the availability of advanced compute and storage infrastructure with unlimited access to EDA software licenses on-demand so you can focus on what you do best – designing chips, faster. Delivering cloud-native EDA tools and pre-optimized hardware platforms, an extremely flexible business model, and a modern customer experience, Synopsys has reimagined the future of chip design on the cloud, without disrupting proven workflows.

 

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About The Author

Venkata Ravella is vice president of Information Technology at Synopsys, where he leads a world-class IT infrastructure team that has built large-scale engineering and business infrastructure on private and public clouds. Over the last 25+ years, he has held various roles in IT, with the majority of his time focused on engineering environment and infrastructure. He has in-depth experience building high-performing engineering environments, both on-prem and in-cloud, with an emphasis on reliability, scalability, and security at their core.

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