Manufacturer and device support

So far, we have been looking at modules that interact with servers. In our case, they have mostly been running locally. In the upcoming chapters, we will be communicating more with remotely cloud-hosted servers. But, before interacting with remote servers, we should cover the core network modules.

These modules have all been designed to interact with and manage the configuration of various network devices, from your traditional top-of-rack switches and fully virtualized network infrastructure to firewalls and load balancers. Ansible supports many devices, from open source virtual appliances to hardware solutions, some of which could have a starting price of over USD 500,000, depending on your configuration.

So, what do all these collections and modules have in common?

Well, they all interact with what are traditionally complex to configure devices, which, in most deployments and environments, are both the core and critical elements; after all...