Chef is a systems integration framework, built to bring the benefits of configuration management to your entire infrastructure. With Chef, you can:
* Manage your servers by writing code, not by running commands. (via Cookbooks)
* Integrate tightly with your applications, databases, LDAP directories, and more. (via Libraries)
* Easily configure applications that require knowledge about your entire infrastructure ("What systems are running my application?" "What is the current master database server?")