Ambari vs Ansible: What are the differences?

## Introduction

Key differences between Ambari and Ansible are outlined below:

1. **Functionality**: Ambari is a cluster management tool specifically designed for Apache Hadoop, providing features like monitoring, provisioning, and managing Hadoop clusters. On the other hand, Ansible is a configuration management tool that automates software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment.

2. **Agent-Based vs. Agentless**: Ambari relies on agents running on each node in the cluster to perform tasks, while Ansible follows an agentless approach, using SSH to communicate with nodes and execute tasks remotely. This can simplify the setup process and minimize potential security vulnerabilities in Ansible.

3. **Language**: Ansible playbooks are written in YAML, which is human-readable and easy to understand, making it accessible to a wider range of users. In contrast, Ambari uses a web-based interface and RESTful APIs for cluster management tasks, requiring a different learning curve for users.

4. **Scalability**: Ambari is optimized for managing large Hadoop clusters, offering scalability and efficiency in handling complex cluster configurations and workflows. Ansible, on the other hand, is suitable for managing infrastructure of any size, enabling automation of tasks across multiple servers or nodes efficiently.

5. **Community Support**: Ansible boasts a large and active community, providing a wide range of community-developed modules, playbooks, and best practices for automation tasks. While Ambari has community and enterprise support, it may not have the same level of extensive community resources available for users.

6. **Integration**: Ansible can integrate with a variety of tools and platforms, making it versatile for automation tasks across different environments. Ambari, being more focused on Hadoop cluster management, may have limited integration capabilities with other non-Hadoop tools or systems. 

In Summary, the key differences between Ambari and Ansible lie in their functionality, approach to agent communication, language, scalability, community support, and integration capabilities.