Puppet can be used independently as a stand-alone architecture. For that, each managed node has to maintain its own independent copy of the configuration data and catalog.  In Puppet stand-alone architecture, the Puppet Apply application is executed on managed nodes as a corn job or as a scheduled activity. Apart from running automatically, it can perform manually for lesser setup chores or when setting up a new server.  In stand-alone architecture, similar to Puppet master, Puppet Apply also requires access to several configuration data sources to create a catalog specific to the managed node.  Then, Puppet Apply instantly applies the catalog once it is compiled by verifying each resource it represents. It checks for resources and makes adjustments to them if they are not in the intended condition. In the no-op mode, it can also inform on the necessary adjustments that might have been made.  Once the catalog is applied, Puppet Apply saves a report on disk. It may be set up to report information centrally. This how the independent copy of the configuration data and catalog are created and maintained.