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Effective IT infrastructure management hinges on robust workload automation and job scheduling. In UNIX-like operating systems, cron has long been a robust choice for scheduling tasks. However, as the demands of modern infrastructure have evolved, so have the solutions for task scheduling. While cron remains powerful and useful, various alternative solutions have emerged, offering enhanced features, distributed scheduling, and improved reliability.
This article delves into the top 5 alternatives to the Cron scheduler in job scheduling, enterprise job scheduling, and workload automation. These emerging platforms boast diverse features, integrations, and adaptability to meet contemporary enterprise demands. For an in-depth analysis of WLA solutions in PDF, get our WLA vendor comparison document.
Cron Alternatives’ Comparison
| Vendor | Ratings* |
|---|---|
| ActiveBatch | 4.6/5 based on 330 reviews |
| Redwood RunMyJobs | 4.6/5 based on 197 reviews |
| VisualCron | 4.7/5 based on 18 reviews |
| Forta’s JAMS | 4.5/5 based on 223 reviews |
| Stonebranch | 4.3/5 based on 79 reviews |
*Ratings and Reviews are based on PeerSpot, TrustRadius, and G2. Vendors who received the higher score are ranked first, except Redwood and ActiveBatch, who are sponsors of AIMultiple.
Cron Scheduler Review
Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like operating systems. It allows users to schedule jobs (commands or scripts) to run periodically at fixed times, dates, or intervals. These jobs are typically automated tasks that handle system maintenance, administration functions, or other repeated tasks without manual intervention.
Cron features:
- Simplicity: One of cron’s most significant advantages is its simplicity. Users can quickly define time-based schedules using the crontab syntax.
- Availability: It’s standard across almost all Unix-like systems. Whether working with a macOS laptop or a large-scale Linux server, you can expect cron to be available.
- User-specific Scheduling: Each user on a system can have their crontab, allowing for personalized task scheduling.
- Granular Scheduling: With its five-field system (minute, hour, day of the month, month, day of the week), cron can handle various scheduling needs, from tasks that run every minute to tasks that run once a year.
- Logging: By default, any output (including errors) produced by the cron jobs is mailed to the user. This feature ensures that users are informed of the success or failure of their tasks.
Where cron may fall short
- Limited Time-based Scheduling: cron is purely time-based. Unlike more advanced task schedulers, it can’t schedule jobs based on events or conditions (e.g., when a file changes or the system load is low).
- No Centralized Management: For organizations running multiple servers, there’s no built-in way to manage or monitor cron jobs across all machines centrally.
- Potential for Silent Failures: Failed jobs can go unnoticed If users don’t regularly check their email (or if mail functionality isn’t set up correctly).
- No Dependency Management: Cron does not have built-in capabilities to manage job dependencies. If one task depends on the successful completion of another, you’ll need to manage that logic within the scripts or tasks themselves.
While cron is an incredibly powerful tool for simple, time-based task scheduling in Unix-like systems, its utility diminishes as job complexity, dependency management, and error-handling needs increase. Modern systems might employ more advanced task schedulers or orchestration platforms to complement or replace cron for more intricate requirements.
Cron Alternatives
1-ActiveBatch
ActiveBatch and cron are both job scheduling tools, but they differ significantly in terms of features, scalability, and integration capabilities. ActiveBatch is a workload automation solution that optimizes and simplifies enterprise job scheduling.
It provides a flexible link to all servers, services, and applications. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface makes centralizing tasks easy (see Figure 1). All its features can be managed from one unified platform. ActiveBatch is often used in enterprise environments where the requirements exceed what cron can provide out of the box.
Figure 1: ActiveBatch UI
While cron is specific to Unix-like systems, ActiveBatch offers job scheduling across various platforms, including Windows, Linux, and others. This means you can centrally manage jobs across your entire infrastructure, irrespective of the underlying operating system.
Reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 based on 171 reviews1
- PeerSpot: 4.6/5 based on 16 reviews2
- TrustRadius: 9.1/10 based on 29 votes3
2-RunMyJobs
Redwood RunMyJobs is a hybrid-cloud platform tailored for task automation. By leveraging criteria such as date-and-time, events, or other triggers, it allows IT departments to seamlessly automate processes. With the primary goal of streamlining workflows, RunMyJobs minimizes the necessity for manual initiations, granting professionals more time to dedicate to intricate projects.
By integrating Redwood’s job scheduling solutions, companies can enhance various business applications, pushing towards optimized operations. See the video below to get an overview of their offerings:
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 based on 117 reviews.4
- PeerSpot: 4.8/5 based on 19 reviews.5
- TrustRadius: 9.5/10 based on 28 votes.6
3-VisualCron
VisualCron is an automation, integration, and task-scheduling tool for Windows. VisualCron can be seen as an alternative to the cron scheduler. While cron is native to Unix-like systems, VisualCron is specifically designed for Windows. For organizations primarily using Windows infrastructure, VisualCron may offer a more integrated and seamless experience.
Reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 based on 6 reviews. 7
- Peerspot: 4.0/5.0 based on 5 reviews. 8
- TrustRadius: N/A
4-Fortra’s JAMS
Fortra’s JAMS is an enterprise job scheduling and workload automation solution by Fortra. It’s designed to manage, schedule, and execute complex workloads across a variety of platforms and applications. Like the tools in this list, JAMS can schedule tasks across various platforms, including Windows, Linux, UNIX, AS/400, and more. See its user interface below:
Figure 2: Fortra’s JAMS UI
Reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 based on 142 reviews9
- PeerSpot: 4.5/5 based on 21 reviews10
- TrustRadius: 7.9/10 based on 43 votes.11
5-Stonebranch
The StoneBranch Universal Automation Center (UAC) is a tool to streamline IT and business operations, oversee file transfers, and unify the control of IT job scheduling and workload automation tools. UAC enables automation throughout the hybrid IT landscape by leveraging its event-driven automation capabilities, .
UAC aims to enhance the current job scheduling landscape by analyzing, refining, and automating scripts executed by Cron.
Reviews
G2: 4.5/5 based on 74 reviews12
TrustRadius: None
PeerSpot:3.8/5 based on 4 reviews13
If you have further questions about workload automation, reach us:
Find the Right Vendors
- “ActiveBatch” G2. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “ActiveBatch” PeerSpot. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “ActiveBatch” Trustradius. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “RunMyJobs” G2. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “RunMyJobs” PeerSpot. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “RunMyJobs” Trustradius. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “VisualCron” G2. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “VisualCron” Peerspot. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “JAMS Scheduler” G2. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “JAMS Scheduler” PeerSpot. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “JAMS Scheduler” TrustRadius. Accessed 11 August 2023.
- “Stonebranch UAC” G2.
- “Stonebranch UAC” PeerSpot.
Altay is an industry analyst at AIMultiple. He has background in international political economy, multilateral organizations, development cooperation, global politics, and data analysis.
He has experience working at private and government institutions. Altay discovered his interest for emerging tech after seeing its wide use of area in several sectors and acknowledging its importance for the future.
He received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from Bilkent University and he received his master’s degree in International Politics from KU Leuven .
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