ASTRA32 vs Facter

ASTRA32 provides system configuration information and computer diagnostics for Windows PCs. It identifies hardware including processors, motherboards, BIOS, chipsets, memory, storage, graphics, audio, network, USB, SCSI, and other devices. Its Drivers Troubleshooter lists physical devices with missing or improperly installed drivers. For storage, it reads hard-drive S.M.A.R.T. information, including from drives attached through external UDMA, SATA, or RAID controllers, and calculates remaining SSD life. It can also report on Windows, installed programs, and hotfixes. Reports can be saved as TXT, INI, HTML, XML, or CSV. Batch mode supports report profiles and macros, and a standalone version can run without installation. ASTRA32 reports can be imported into Hardware Inspector inventory management software. The maker identifies PC repair technicians and system administrators as potential users. The program is free for non-commercial purposes. The listed Windows range runs from Windows 95/98/ME through Windows 11 x64, and a DOS version is also available.

Facter is a free command-line tool that gathers system information such as hardware details, network settings, and operating system type and version. Puppet uses it to collect information before requesting a catalog or compiling one with puppet apply. Its built-in core facts include legacy and structured facts, though some facts do not apply to every system. Users can add custom facts in Ruby, with multiple resolutions available for determining a value, or external facts that return static data or output from a script or program. Facts can be hashes or arrays, and Boolean, numeric, and structured values retain their types. Configuration can block fact groups or cache results with time-to-live settings. Facts are available in Puppet manifests, while the --puppet option loads Puppet-specific facts from the command line. PuppetDB's API can support exploration, search, and reporting on infrastructure facts. Facter runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and can be self-hosted. Legacy facts are omitted from default command-line output unless --show-legacy is used. Puppet's custom-fact examples require some Ruby familiarity, and facter.conf must be created manually or managed with a module.