Bare metal cloud is a computing service that offers dedicated hardware and unvirtualized servers to clients. Standard cloud servers are virtualized i.e. multiple clients share the same base hardware. For example, a server with a 128-core Intel Xeon CPU could be virtualized into 64 dual-core servers (as Virtual Machines or VMs) for client use. Bare Metal Cloud, on the other hand, offers the full server — 128 cores in this example — to the client.
Now this is expensive, but such a service has several distinct advantages for demanding or secure workloads:
Raw performance
Traditional servers are virtualized via a hypervisor, a hardware and software layer that manages the various VMs. While the impact on performance isn’t normally heavy, a hypervisor does add some latency and consumes a portion of the server’s resources. Going bare metal eliminates the need for a hypervisor entirely and gives the developer team full access to the server’s resources. This approach costs more and requires more technical knowledge, but it can prove beneficial in low latency and high throughput workloads such as cloud gaming and AI.
Custom hardware and control
Another advantage is simply having root access to the server itself (in many cases). Clients can install custom software, kernels, operating systems, and where possible, can even ask for specialized hardware to be installed. That last could include certain models of GPUs for AI inference, or faster NVMe storage and RAM for bandwidth sensitive applications.
Better security
A bare metal cloud setup tends to be physically isolated from other clients. Resources are not shared. This can be critical for sensitive applications and even for regulatory compliance (in the case of, say, mandated security for user healthcare data). Going bare metal minimizes the risk of data breaches and leaks.
Cost efficiency
While bare metal cloud costs more than traditional, shared/virtualized cloud computing, such a setup can prove to be cost efficient when running demanding, sustained workloads. Applications that run 24/7 such as high-frequency trading, real-time multiplayer servers, data analytics, not to mention AI/ML applications are good examples of this.
Faster provisioning and flexibility
Another area where bare metal cloud has an advantage is provisioning and flexibility. Shared servers or VMs are more agile in that they can be scaled up or down easily. However, provisioning time — the time needed to prepare and set up a new server, whether virtual or otherwise — tends to be much faster with a bare metal setup. Thanks to this, it’s also possible for developers to spin up a new server more easily and when needed, say for testing or to deal with an unexpected spike in demand.
The choice of going with either bare metal cloud or a VM/shared server primarily comes down to use-case, where a dev team must weigh the benefits of raw performance against the cost of such a setup. If security, low latency, or high utilization is expected, bare metal is usually the default option. That said, VMs tend to still be enough for most use-cases owing to their greater flexibility and much lower cost.
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