Treffer: Network Automation: A Comparative Analysis of Ansible and a Custom Python-Based Tool

The advent of network automation tools eliminates repetitive tasks and streamlines operations within network environments. However, choosing a tool can be challenging due to the variety of available options and their different levels of complexity. In this thesis, a network automation tool is developed using Python. The tool combines several advantages, including a graphical user interface (GUI), the ability to use standard commands in configuration files, and an agentless architecture. These features combined are uncommon in existing open-source network automation tools. Moreover, the tool is compared to Ansible to demonstrate its user-friendliness, security, and performance. Security was evaluated by focusing on the methods used for storing the credentials of managed devices and executing automated tasks. Additionally, the investigation of user-friendliness included syntax, user interface, and setup. Furthermore, performance was assessed by measuring the response time and CPU usage of performing identical automation tasks. The work was structured into practical and theoretical phases. Relevant literature and documentation were reviewed, and experiments were conducted. The results from measuring response time and CPU usage revealed the outperformance of Ansible across almost all measurements. This advantage is attributed to Ansible's ability to execute tasks in parallel and its lack of a GUI, which significantly reduces response time and CPU usage. In contrast, the custom tool demonstrated a significant advantage in terms of user-friendliness. Both Ansible and the custom tool use SSH communication channels to execute automated tasks on managed devices. This is considered secure due to the encryption of information exchanged between the workstation and clients. Moreover, both tools encrypt the credentials of managed devices to safeguard them against exposure.