cdist vs RANCID
A side-by-side look at cdist and RANCID. For an in-depth review of either product, follow the links below.
cdist
System & Hardware
cdist is an open source configuration management tool written in Python. It allows system administrators to define the configuration of servers and deploy it to multiple machines in parallel. cdist works by running small scripts called 'manifests' on remote hosts.
configuration-managementautomationpython
RANCID
Network & Admin
RANCID is an open-source network monitoring software that keeps track of router and switch configurations. It detects changes to configurations by regularly checking devices and archiving new revisions. This allows network administrators to track changes and roll back unwanted modifications.
router-configurationswitch-configurationnetwork-monitoringopen-source