Automated large-scale server configuration has saved time but still needs a simpler learning path
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Chef was around provisioning and configuration management for our application servers.
I can give you a specific example of how I used Chef for configuration management on our application servers: we provisioned our servers using Terraform, and once the servers were provisioned, there were a bunch of things that we installed on our application servers through Chef, such as NGINX, security packages, and other custom utilities.
What is most valuable?
The best features Chef offers make the management of large-scale infrastructure easy, and the development around custom resources was also something useful. Most configuration management tools offer the same kind of features, but Chef is better at handling large-scale infrastructure.
Chef has impacted my organization positively because most of our infrastructure configuration management depended on it. If Chef is not working, we are blocked at many fronts, including not being able to provision services or our application servers, making it a critical part of our whole ecosystem.
Chef benefited my organization by definitely reducing time because we were provisioning tens of thousands of servers. Anytime we built the server using Terraform, we never had to worry about the configuration management part since it would run as our pipeline, making it a really significant time-saver for us.
The custom resources helped my team specifically because we had a bunch of custom things that we used to do on our application servers, and that is where we used Chef's custom resources to build on that.
What needs improvement?
Chef has a very steep learning curve, especially for beginners. I felt that way when I started with Chef because there is too much to learn, and compared to Ansible, which has an easier learning curve, Chef can be confusing.
The learning curve is something that should be focused on for improvement. Chef could be made a little simpler so that someone with basic coding knowledge should be able to pick up Chef and write recipes.
I have noticed that needing to know Ruby for developing custom resources or custom recipes is another area for improvement. Ruby is easy to pick up, but in today's IT scenario, languages like Python and GoLang are more frequently used.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Chef in my previous company for almost four to four and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Chef is very stable. We have rarely had any outages on our Chef servers.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are running Chef in the cloud as a single server, and we are not currently looking into its scalability because most of the work is done by the clients on our application servers.
How are customer service and support?
I have never used Chef's customer support because we have mostly fixed our issues through code changes on our end.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
At Coupa, we have been very Chef-oriented or Chef-centric from the beginning, so we have not used any other configuration management tool.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment with Chef because we definitely need fewer employees to manage infrastructure. In today's scenario, no one is doing configuration management manually anymore.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Chef is that it is a good tool for implementing it across large-scale infrastructure. If you are planning to manage tens of thousands of servers, Chef is one of the better choices.
I am not sure how Chef is going to keep up with the adoption of containers across the industry since many companies are moving to containerized workloads, and I am curious how Chef will be implemented in those scenarios.
I would rate this review a 7 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Automate your configuration management
What do you like best about the product?
It is super easy to use, You can create groups that are helpful
What do you dislike about the product?
Maintainence is difficult since it has many parts
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It helped me in configuration of my cloud servers
More Time
What do you like best about the product?
The automate compliance system is very ease of use.
I ear the customer support is very dedicated.
I need to test de app and discover a number of features.
What do you dislike about the product?
The UX is flow and test de ease of Implemenation.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Time and easy use.
Progress Chef is the best software to use if you want to be efficient and flexible.
What do you like best about the product?
One of the standout features of Progress Chef is its adaptability to meet the evolving needs of our business. This software operates with remarkable efficiency, effectively minimizing unproductive hours. Additionally, the platform's intuitive interface allows new users to quickly become acquainted with its functions.
What do you dislike about the product?
The documentation provided by Progress Chef could benefit from some improvements. At times, it may appear disorganized, which can make it more challenging to find specific solutions in an efficient manner.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We have seen a significant boost in productivity since implementing Progress Chef. This software effortlessly adjusts to our changing needs, speeds up task completion, and helps new team members quickly get up to speed, reducing any potential delays.
An effective solution that simplifies deployment and seamlessly integrates systems
What do you like best about the product?
Progress Chef has proven to be an exceptional solution from the moment we implemented it. We seamlessly integrated the software with our existing systems, experiencing no issues or compatibility concerns. The customer support team has been consistently available and provides valuable assistance whenever needed, demonstrating their reliability and significant contribution to our work.
What do you dislike about the product?
The current user interface of Progress Chef needs improvement. Although it functions adequately, its usability lags behind other similar programs. This presents a challenge, especially for individuals who are not as familiar with technology, as it may impede their ability to effectively utilize the software.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Progress Chef streamlines settings management across different domains, providing a convenient and efficient solution. Its centralized platform automates actions, ensuring consistency and minimizing errors, leading to improved operational efficiency.
Easy configuration management, optimization abilities, and complete infrastructure and application automation
What is our primary use case?
Chef is like a master chef in a kitchen for computer systems. It's used to create recipes (cookbooks) that specify how servers and apps should be set up. Chef then makes sure these instructions are followed the same way on all computers in a network. The ChefServer is like the recipe book, where all these instructions are kept and shared, making it easier to manage and control how software and systems work in a company.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is its easy configuration management, optimization abilities, complete infrastructure and application automation, and its superiority over other similar tools. It smoothly integrates with CI processes and helps reduce manual errors in system management and configuration. It is an effective and user-friendly tool for automating IT infrastructure and applications.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvement, Chef could get better by being more widely available, adapting to different needs, and providing better documentation. There is also an issue with shared resources like cookbooks lacking context, which could lead to problems when multiple companies use them. Chef should aim for wider availability, better flexibility, clearer documentation, and improved management of shared resources to prevent conflicts. Many companies are now moving to Ansible, so I would recommend better documentation, easier customer use, and simpler integration. I have concerns about the complexity of migrating to different servers and would prefer a simpler process.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Chef for almost a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of the solution an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Approximately 16 people use Chef at our company.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Ansible has more advanced features than Chef. Ansible is easy to install, highly scalable, excels in orchestration and streamlined provisioning, and is easy to deploy. However, I cannot decide whether I prefer Ansible or Chef.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate Chef a seven out of ten.
A collaboration tool for team development
What do you like best about the product?
The capacity of Progress Chef to enhance team collaboration in application creation and deployment is what I find most remarkable. Team members can easily share resources and information thanks to its collaboration features and unified platform. I also value the tool's support for various computer languages and cloud platforms, which gives development and distribution more freedom and speed.
What do you dislike about the product?
Even though it's a powerful tool, Progress Chef might not be the best choice for smaller teams or businesses due to its intricacy and higher expense. The program requires some technological proficiency and has a steep learning curve. Not to mention, customer support could be more quick and useful, especially to those who are new to the site.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Ineffective processes, human error, and scalability problems are just a few of the problems that Progress Chef addresses for businesses during the creation and implementation of applications. By automating time-consuming chores, its robust automation features and workflow management tools free up workers to concentrate on more crucial aspects of development. Deployment is also more scalable and error-free thanks to its support for numerous settings.
Does it worth in 2023?
What do you like best about the product?
1:Progress Chef is known for its easy-to-use interface, making it easy for users to navigate and find what they need.
2:Chef has a large and active community of users, providing resources and support for those who need it.
3:Chef is designed to scale with an organisation's needs, making it an excellent choice for large enterprises or fast-growing companies.
What do you dislike about the product?
1:Chef is a complex tool which is difficult for specific tasks, especially for those unfamiliar with its architecture and capabilities.
2: To deploy and maintain effectively, Chef requires significant resources, including hardware and staff.
3:Chef has a large community of users and many resources available, but documentation for the tool can sometimes be challenging for new users.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
As a cloud Engineer, I need to work on Infrastructure provisioning, and each project requirement is different as per their choice. To handle all these requirements, the chef has helped me manage infrastructure deployment and provisioning. Chef is designed to scale with an organisation's needs, making it an excellent choice for large enterprises or fast-growing companies. It helped me a lot as it can handle large and complex requirements.
Progress Chef - My Experience
What do you like best about the product?
Centralizing our configuration management for all of our managed nodes through cookbooks for all of our environments. Visibility into the cached cookbooks and ability to test locally.
What do you dislike about the product?
Repeatability is tricky with Chef's two-pass model. Troubleshooting is challenging once the Chef codebase grows significantly. The attributes precedence evaluation is funky.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Chef is solving the automation of our configuration management for all existing and new deployments. We use it a a source of truth for our configuration, ensuring that config is repeatable.
Great solution if you need to manage and run workloads on traditional hosts (VM & physical)
What do you like best about the product?
Everything is as code, so it's flexible and easy to reuse code. There are many pre-made cookbooks available on the Chef Supermarket to deploy a wide variety of software.
What do you dislike about the product?
- Test Kitchen and Chef InSpec are too rigid and prevent testing more advanced scenarios, e.g., upgrading a service from version A to B.
- Since there's no notion of state, it is hard to track resources that need to be deleted.
- The attributes precedence logic is way too complicated.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Chef allows our organization to manage and deploy services on hundreds of nodes. For instance, patching vulnerabilities such as Log4j is made easy using Chef. Since everything is in git, we have good traceability of changes made to the infrastructure.
