website: Clarify the Serf vs Consul

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Armon Dadgar 2014-04-18 11:08:17 -07:00
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# Consul vs. Serf # Consul vs. Serf
[Serf](http://www.serfdom.io) is a service discovery and orchestration tool and is the only [Serf](http://www.serfdom.io) is a node discovery and orchestration tool and is the only
tool discussed so far that is built on an eventually consistent gossip model, tool discussed so far that is built on an eventually consistent gossip model,
with no centralized servers. It provides a number of features, including group with no centralized servers. It provides a number of features, including group
membership, failure detection, event broadcasts and a query mechanism. However, membership, failure detection, event broadcasts and a query mechanism. However,
Serf does not provide any high-level features such as service discovery, health Serf does not provide any high-level features such as service discovery, health
checking or key/value storage. checking or key/value storage. To clarify, the discovery feature of Serf is at a node
level, while Consul provides a service and node level abstraction.
Consul is a complete system providing all of those features. In fact, the internal Consul is a complete system providing all of those features. In fact, the internal
[gossip protocol](/docs/internals/gossip.html) used within Consul, is powered by [gossip protocol](/docs/internals/gossip.html) used within Consul, is powered by