What is a core benefit of using Puppet for infrastructure management?

Utilizing Puppet for infrastructure management primarily enables consistent environments across different platforms, such as Docker containers and virtual machines. This consistency is achieved because Puppet operates on the principle of defining the desired state of your infrastructure through code, allowing it to ensure that systems remain in that state, regardless of where they are deployed.

With Puppet, you can write manifest files that describe the configuration of systems, which can be applied across heterogeneous environments. This means that whether you are deploying applications within Docker or on virtual machines, you can ensure that all components are configured in the same way, thus reducing discrepancies and potential issues caused by environmental differences.

The automation of this process lowers the risk of human error that can occur with manual configuration. By standardizing environments, Puppet helps streamline deployments, simplify troubleshooting, and enhance collaboration among teams. This is especially valuable in modern DevOps practices, where speed and reliability are paramount.

The other choices do not align with the core benefits that Puppet provides. For instance, increased manual configuration contradicts the automation aspect of Puppet, while customized scripting for each machine creates variability rather than consistency. Lastly, dependency on individual scripts would lead to complications in management and maintenance, which does not reflect Puppet's goal of providing a unified approach.