Salt vs Grlx: The Battle of Automation Is Getting Spicy
Author: Keisha Thomas-Gamble
Introduction
In the ever-evolving world of DevOps, choosing the perfect blend of tools for automating infrastructure and application management is crucial, but also a daunting task. Today, we'll pit two contenders against each other: the up-and-coming Grlx and the established player, Salt.
Lightweight Contender: Grlx
Grlx, (pronounced "garlic") is a fleet configuration management tool developed entirely in Go. It aims to provide simplicity, efficiency, and flexibility, in automating configuration management tasks. While it's still gaining traction within DevOps circles, its lightweight core and dependency-free design aim to meet the needs of teams seeking streamlined operations and secure deployments. With its low overhead, easy installation process, and extensibility through plugins, Grlx encourages DevOps teams to try out a different flavor profile in their environments.
Strengths
Low overhead: Advertises minimal resource consumption, ensuring efficient operation even in resource-limited environments.
Dependency-free: Free from external dependencies eliminating management of complex dependency chains, and reduces compatibility risks.
Ease of use: Reduced complexity in installation and execution.
Secure by design: TLS built-in for secure communication.
Scalability: Nodes can be easily integrated into Grlx's ecosystem as sprouts.
Open Source: Its community can contribute to its development.
Potential Drawbacks
Limited functionality: Compared to some other configuration management tools Grlx falls short on its features and functionality.
Up-and-coming tool: The up-and-coming status of Grlx comes with a smaller community and less diverse support channels.
Similar feel to Salt: If you're not a fan of Salt, you might find Grlx's structure doesn't quite suit your taste either.
But how does it stack up to one of configuration managements heaviest hitters?
The Seasoned Veteran: Salt
Salt has long been a cornerstone of the DevOps toolkit. Renowned for its robust features, huge community support, and scalability, Salt goes beyond configuration management, also boasting remote execution capabilities and orchestration. Offering both, agent-based and agent-less approaches, Salt is a true, everything but the kitchen sink tool in the DevOps arena. Salt's event-driven automation format, modules for just about any use-case, and plethora of extensions at its disposal, make it a versatile choice for deployments of any size. Positioned as a top pick for enterprise-level deployments, it continues to attract users looking for a diverse automated solution.
Strengths
Powerhouse tool: Extensive library of features and functionality from configuration management to remote execution.
Scalability: Nodes can be easily integrated into Salt's ecosystem as salt-minions.
Community Backing and Open Source: a vibrant community of friendly and insightful users, coupled with an extensive number of contributors, actively supports development.
Extensibility: Users can extend Salt by adding and building their own Salt extensions.
Seasoned Status: Salt is not a newcomer to the automation field, and as such, has been battle-tested in various environments.
Potential Drawbacks
Complexity: With a plethora of functions and features it can come with a learning curve.
Dependencies: Salt does come with dependencies that may be challenging for specific environments.
Comparing Components
Architecture
Salt and Grlx both feature a management system (Salt-Master/Farmer) and managed nodes (Salt-Minion/Sprouts) in an agent type relationship with agent-less connections available in Salt. While Grlx design puts forth simplicity at its core, with desired states or "recipes" being its bread and butter, Salt has a range of features with, not only states, but broad use-cases across the board.
Ease of Use
Grlx is written in Go and markets its dependency-free design as one of its forefront design aspects. With a straight forward configuration and installation process it shines in the area of ease-of-use. Salt is written in Python, an inherently developer friendly language, but has a massive library of functionality and extensions that can take time to ramp up in. Although, many find the installation process of Salt intuitive and easy to setup, there are dependency considerations that can be challenging especially in very small instances or IoT devices.
Community and Support
As Grlx is the "new kid on the block", the community surrounding it is smaller than other configuration management tools, with much of the support coming from early adopters. Salt, on the other hand, has a huge community with extensive documentation across multiple channels. Both tools have active Discord channels for support.
Flexibility and Extensibility
Grlx uses a plugin system to extend functionality, since Grlx is still in active development, plugins and documentation around plugin modules are currently limited. Salt in comparison, has a feature rich extension model in the form of Salt Extensions. Salt Extensions are easily integrated into Salt with utilities to help users create their own modules while leveraging Salt's ecosystem.
Declaring a Winner
We can't deny, Salt is a kitchen staple in our DevOps formula. Grlx appears to borrow heavily from Salt's playbook, but it doesn't quite match up in terms of functionality, which could be a pro or con depending on your environment. That said, Grlx is bringing its A-game and tackling some real pain points in the industry. While we see Grlx being a solid contender for IoT or resource constrained deployments, it might not fully satisfy users accustomed to Salt's robust features. Plus, with Salt's ongoing development and strong community support, many reported issues are actively being addressed, making it a solid choice for many DevOps teams. Nonetheless, it should be noted that Grlx is still in its early stages and under active development, and with various early adopters and a clear roadmap, it's definitely something to add to your watch list.
Conclusion
Grlx and Salt offer distinct flavors in the DevOps landscape, each with its own strengths and characteristics. While Grlx emphasizes simplicity and a straightforward approach, Salt boasts a rich array of features, reflecting its seasoned veteran status. Despite what people may say on the internet, the choice between them depends on your specific environment, preferences, and requirements. As the world of DevOps continues to evolve, it's essential to evaluate which tool aligns best with your needs and goals. Both Grlx and Salt have their merits, and the decision lies in finding the right fit for your team and workflows.
