Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

RANCID VS Python

Compare RANCID VS Python and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

RANCID logo RANCID

RANCID - Really Awesome New Cisco confIg Differ.

Python logo Python

Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.
  • RANCID Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-08
  • Python Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17

RANCID features and specs

  • Version Control
    RANCID automatically collects and stores device configurations in version control systems, providing an audit trail and making it easy to track changes over time.
  • Automated Backups
    The tool automates the process of regularly backing up network device configurations, reducing the risk of configuration loss due to human error or device failure.
  • Change Detection
    RANCID can notify administrators of configuration changes via email alerts, helping to maintain network integrity and quickly spot unauthorized changes.
  • Multi-Vendor Support
    It supports a wide range of network devices from different vendors, making it versatile for environments with diverse equipment.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source software, RANCID is free to use and can be customized to fit specific organizational needs without licensing costs.

Possible disadvantages of RANCID

  • Complex Setup
    Initially setting up RANCID can be complex and time-consuming, especially for those not familiar with command-line interfaces or scripting.
  • Limited GUI
    RANCID lacks a robust graphical user interface (GUI), which might be challenging for users who prefer visual configuration management tools.
  • Dependency on External Tools
    It heavily relies on other tools like version control systems (e.g., Git or CVS) and requires these to be set up and maintained alongside RANCID.
  • Scalability Concerns
    Performance may degrade or require additional configuration as the number of managed devices increases significantly.
  • Limited Support
    Being open source, formal support is limited; users often rely on community forums and mailing lists for troubleshooting issues.

Python features and specs

  • Easy to Learn
    Python syntax is clear and readable, which makes it an excellent choice for beginners and allows for quick learning and prototyping.
  • Versatile
    Python can be used for web development, data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, and more, making it a highly versatile programming language.
  • Large Standard Library
    Python comes with a comprehensive standard library that includes modules and packages for various tasks, reducing the need to write code from scratch.
  • Strong Community Support
    Python has a large and active community, which means a wealth of third-party packages, tutorials, and documentation is available for assistance.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Python is compatible with major operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing for easy development and deployment across different platforms.
  • Good for Rapid Development
    The high-level nature of Python allows for quick development cycles and fast iteration, which is ideal for startups and prototyping.

Possible disadvantages of Python

  • Performance Limitations
    Python is generally slower than compiled languages like C or Java because it is an interpreted language, which can be a drawback for performance-critical applications.
  • Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)
    The GIL in CPython, the most used Python interpreter, prevents multiple native threads from executing Python bytecodes at once, limiting multi-threading capabilities.
  • Memory Consumption
    Python can be more memory-intensive compared to some other languages, which might be a concern for applications with tight memory constraints.
  • Mobile Development
    Python is not a primary choice for mobile app development, where languages like Java, Swift, or Kotlin are more commonly used.
  • Runtime Errors
    Being a dynamically typed language, Python code can sometimes lead to runtime errors that would be caught at compile-time in statically typed languages.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies in Python projects can sometimes be complex and cumbersome, especially when dealing with conflicting versions of libraries.

RANCID videos

Puppet Perspectives - Rancid "Troublemaker" Album Review (feat. Dan)

More videos:

  • Review - Rancid Life Won't Wait Album Review
  • Review - Review: Rancid “Trouble Maker”

Python videos

Creator of Python Programming Language, Guido van Rossum | Oxford Union

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RANCID and Python)
Network Automation
100 100%
0% 0
Programming Language
0 0%
100% 100
Configuration Auditing
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using RANCID and Python. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RANCID and Python

RANCID Reviews

We have no reviews of RANCID yet.
Be the first one to post

Python Reviews

Pine Script Alternatives: A Comprehensive Guide to Trading Indicator Languages
Technical analysis in trading has come a long way, with various programming languages emerging to support traders in developing custom indicators. While Pine Script has been a popular choice for many, alternatives like Indie, ThinkScript, NinjaScript, MetaQuotes Language (MQL), and even general-purpose languages like Python and C++ are gaining traction. Let’s explore these...
Source: medium.com
Top 5 Most Liked and Hated Programming Languages of 2022
No wonder Python is one of the easiest programming languages to work upon. This general-purpose programming language finds immense usage in the field of web development, machine learning applications, as well as cutting-edge technology in the software industry. The fact that Python is used by major tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc. is good enough proof as to...
Top 10 Rust Alternatives
This programming langue is typed statically and operates on a complied system. It works based on several computing languages Python, Ada, and Modula.
15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Python is the most widely used programming language for data science and machine learning and one of the most popular languages overall. The Python open source project's website describes it as "an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics," as well as built-in data structures and dynamic typing and binding capabilities. The site...
The 10 Best Programming Languages to Learn Today
Python's variety of applications make it a powerful and versatile language for different use cases. Python-based web development frameworks like Django and Flask are gaining popularity fast. It's also equipped with quality machine learning and data analysis tools like Scikit-learn and Pandas.
Source: ict.gov.ge

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Python seems to be a lot more popular than RANCID. While we know about 288 links to Python, we've tracked only 9 mentions of RANCID. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

RANCID mentions (9)

  • Cisco switch backup/restore?
    A decade ago I worked for a shop that needed to routinely back up 100+ cisco switches and routers and refused to pay for solarwinds. I setup a light weight freebsd vm to run this open source software: https://shrubbery.net/rancid/ (Rancid: Really Awesome New Cisco config Differ) and set it to scrape all the equipment every 12 errors. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Version control for network configs
    Anyways Rancid does support cvs, svn, and git. Though I have only used it with cvs. Basically what it does, is checks out the configuration, downloads the configuration with other information about the state of the device, commits the configurations(which only changed ones will be in the latest check-ins, and then it can send an email of the changes. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Management Software for Cisco Devices?
    RANCID - Really Awesome New Cisco confIg Differ monitors a router's (or more generally a device's) configuration, including software and hardware (cards, serial numbers, etc) and uses CVS (Concurrent Version System), Subversion or Git to maintain history of changes. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • What all are you doing with Ansible?
    If you want to use this as an opportunity to learn Ansible, or you don't want to add another tool to the stack, this is a fine use case. Otherwise, I would consider using either RANCID or Oxidized for configuration backup. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Starting with python at 30
    Before I knew about RANCiD (https://shrubbery.net/rancid), I wrote my own Perl application to telnet into a Foundry Networks switch and TFTP its configuration to my computer so I could back it up. At a future employer, I rewrote another coworkers Perl application that collected SNMP values from devices and did stuff with it (forget what all I did then). Source: about 3 years ago
View more

Python mentions (288)

  • A Beginner's Guide to Auto-Instrumenting a Flask App with OpenTelemetry and SigNoz
    If Python is not installed, download it from python.org or use your system's package manager (e.g., sudo apt install python3 on Ubuntu). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Scraping Infinite Scroll Pages with a 'Load More' Button: A Step-by-Step Guide
    Python Installed: Download and install the latest Python version from python.org, including pip during setup. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Get Started with Python
    First, you'll need to install Python if you don't have it already. Go to the official Python website python.org, download the latest version, and follow the instructions. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Unlocking DuckDB from Anywhere - A Guide to Remote Access with Apache Arrow and Flight RPC (gRPC)
    Python: We’ll use Python for it’s simplicity and accessibility. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Python Packaging is Great Now: `uv` is all you need
    Bootstrapping was an often neglected problem. Should we tell people to install Python from https://python.org? The Anaconda distribution? How do we stop folks from using their system package manager and risk breaking everything? - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RANCID and Python, you can also consider the following products

Unimus - Unimus is a Network Automation and Configuration management (NCM) solution designed for fast deployment network-wide and ease of use. Unimus does not require learning any abstraction or templating languages, and does not require any coding skills.

JavaScript - Lightweight, interpreted, object-oriented language with first-class functions

Oxidized - configuration backup software (IOS, JunOS) - silly attempt at rancid

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language

GenieACS - A fast and lightweight TR-069 Auto Configuration Server (ACS)

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible