To understand the benefits of something, we should first learn about that thing. So let us first see what Bare Metal Server is!
What is a Bare Metal server?
A bare metal server is a physical server dedicated to a single tenant. It is made of preconfigured adjustable resources. The tenant can optimize the resources according to their needs. The owner is the only one using the server and has complete control over the server’s environment. In contrast to VPS and shared hosting, the tenant does not share physical hardware with any other user.
Benefits of Bare Metal Server
Let us now explore the benefits of a bare metal server in the following:
- Customizability:
Since the owner has root access to the server, a bare metal server allows high customizability. This wide range of customizability is not possible in shared hosting. The customizability feature allows you to divide the server’s resources between custom virtual machines or can simply dedicate all resources to a single application. - Performance:
Unlike shared hosting or VPS, your site will indubitably have a high performance when all the resources are dedicated to a single tenant. It eliminates all “noisy neighbor” effects. Bare metal servers also provide you with more resources, certainly increasing the performance of your website. - Security:
With all the other features, bare metal servers also provide you with improved security. All your data and files are physically isolated from other servers, which is very beneficial for your security as it becomes difficult for hackers to hack into your system. You can add custom firewall configurations and adjust its setting according to your requirements. - Reliability:
Since you are the only one using the server and no other tenant is there to impact your website in any way increases the reliability of a bare metal server. You will not be impacted by sudden traffic spikes on anyone’s website, known as the “noisy neighbor effect.” A bare metal server will save your site from unnecessary downtime as well. - Customer Support:
As we have mentioned above, bare metal servers are very customizable and have relatively high prices as compared to shared hosting and VPS; therefore, the hosting providers usually have a dedicated team to manage these servers. They also provide their customers with 24/7 customer support, and dealing with troubleshooting issues has become easier than ever.
Let us Compare
Let us put a bare metal server through comparison tests with shared hosting and VPS and see which of them works the best.
Bare Metal Server VS Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is a cheaper option as compared to any other hosting option, but it comes with a fair share of limitations. Because there is a high number of users sharing a single physical server, It does not offer any customizability and low-performance rates. Moreover, it does not offer any scalability as well. And if you demand customizability and scalability from your hosting plan, a bare metal server is the right option for you.
Bare Metal Server VS VPS
VPS (Virtual Private Server) offers more customizability as compared to shared hosting. It also manages to provide us with a layer of isolation from other users sharing the same server with you. VPS provides you with visualized resources and creates a workable balance between performance, price, security, and scalability, but it still has some disadvantages. Because when using VPS hosting, you are still sharing the server with multiple users, and you might be impacted because of load spikes which might lead to downtime for your website. There are also some security threats because your data is not physically isolated from other users. If one of the users is exploited by a hacker, yours is also in danger.
On the other hand, a bare metal server caters to all the concerns, as mentioned earlier, because you are physically separated from all the other people using the Internet.
Some benefits of a Bare Metal Server
Now let us go through some of the advantages of bare metal servers which make them better than any other type of web hosting in the following:
- Customizability:
You can have it the way you want it to be. One of the best advantages of a bare metal server is the level of customizability it offers you. You can choose the Operating System, technology stack, and firewall configuration according to your choice. - Dedicated Resources:
This feature of a bare metal server is similar to that of a dedicated server, but the user is physically isolated from other users in the former. It allows you to use all the resources for yourself, improving your performance, security, and website uptime. - Faster Development:
Although a bare metal server comes in limited and predefined configurations, they are instantly available upon request, whereas a dedicated server requires up to 48 hours to be built. Therefore, choose a bare metal server to start building your website as quickly as possible. - Root Access:
The bare metal server provides you root access to the server, which allows the owners with technical knowledge to change the server configuration and install the software according to their business needs. This feature expands the horizon of the customizability of a bare metal server. - Security:
Since we have mentioned several times that in a bare metal server, you are physically isolated from other users, hence you are less likely to have security breaches. You also have the ability to change the configuration of the firewall according to your needs, which provides more security than VPS hosting. - Predictable Price:
Since you are the owner of all that happens to your bare metal server, you can adjust the hardware according to your needs, such as whether your application needs more CPU core to process data faster or a RAM and bandwidth to handle more connections; you can choose it for yourself; hence you can predict the cost for your model. - Scalability:
If your website has grown and the already present resources are not fulfilling for it anymore, you can scale up to more resources with a few clicks from your user interface. The opposite is also true. You can downscale anytime you want as well. The option of scalability according to the flow of traffic to your website is actually one of the best features of a bare metal server. - No Noisy Neighbor Effect:
Not sharing your server with anyone positively impacts you in every way. In VPS and shared hosting, because of sharing the server with other users, the load on other websites on the same server will impact your website’s performance. But this is not the case with bare metal servers. Since you are the only one using the physical server, nothing except you can negatively impact your website. - Easy Server Management:
Considering the best case scenario, that you are the master in technical knowledge, you will also prefer a bare metal server because of its easy management and time-saving features if you need to scale up your resources, making it stand out among all the other hostings. A bare metal server is a physical machine in a data center that manages your hardware and looks after your updates in the easiest way possible. - Better Customer Support:
As bare metal servers are higher in price, most of the hosting providers have dedicated teams to manage these servers and provide you with better customer support 24/7 throughout the year.
Disadvantages of a Bare Metal Server
Everything has a flip side to it, no matter how perfect it seems to be. The following are some of the disadvantages of a bare metal server:
- Complexities:
High customizability is an advantage of bare metal servers, but it comes with increased complexity, and this might not be suitable for all types of users. When you have a variety of options to choose from, it will take more of your time to choose the right one for you and set everything in place to start working. But once you are done, you will be able to start working on your website without any delay. - Reduced Scalability:
Although upscaling your resources is an easy process, it still has some limitations. And if you are expecting a large increase in the traffic to your website or application, then a bare metal server might not be the right option for you. - High Entry Cost:
Without any doubt, a bare metal server provides you with a wide range of customizability and improved performance, but it requires a high entry cost as compared to VPS and shared hosting. But a bare metal server should be your go-to option if you plan on securing your data and avoiding unnecessary issues.
In the article above, we have brought all the basic information you will need about a bare metal server to compare it with your current hosting option. We have mentioned the advantages and disadvantages for you, along with a brief comparison with VPS and shared hosting as well. This can help you in making the right option for you. I hope this article will prove to be helpful for you!