Understanding Bare Metal & Virtual Servers for Business
By Space Coast Daily // November 10, 2021
Businesses have a whole cavalcade of server hosting options at their disposal, which can complicate things if you are not technically minded.
To streamline the procurement process, let’s delve into and demystify the two main choices you have; bare metal and virtual servers.
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The benefits of bare metal
The main reason that businesses choose bare metal hosting services, such as those provided by Maxihost, is for the level of control that this affords them.
Bare metals servers can be configured in the exact way you want them, so if you have an intended application with unique hardware needs, these become simple to accommodate.
In addition, this hardware will be reserved solely for the use of your organization. If you are worried about having to share resources with other customers, bare metal servers are the way to go.
Along with these considerations comes the matter of security. Shared server solutions can increase the risks of cross-contamination in the event of a breach or virus infection, while bare metal deployments are more resilient.
Lastly there is the flexibility that comes with modern bare metal server solutions. You can add new servers on the fly with most packages, keeping costs low and accelerating the deployment of additional resources to deal with peaks in demand.
And of course because you are not having to handle any of this in-house, you avoid the expense and the irritation that hosting dedicated servers locally can create.
The values of virtualization
As the name suggests, virtual servers are not tied specifically to a tangible hardware setup, but rather are defined entirely within software.
This gives providers the ability to share the resources of a single server between multiple clients, with several deployments coexisting simultaneously.
The upshot is that virtual servers can be more affordable, while also suffering from some of the downsides mentioned earlier.
Talking points not discussed so far include the fact that virtual servers can suffer from added lag compared with their bare metal counterparts. This is because the extra layer of software can be a minor bottleneck, which in turn compromises performance.
Virtual servers also need to be more rigorously managed and maintained, which can mean that levels of uptime are not ideal.
That said, virtual servers are a good stepping stone for smaller businesses that are interested in outsourcing their hosting but do not have the need or the budget for a full bare metal package.
The shared perks
While it is easy to position bare metal servers as a direct competitor to virtual servers, the reality is that these solutions do share a number of the same benefits, so no matter which you pick you stand to have a better time than if you stick with on-site hosting.
Firstly, scalability is a serious plus point, since providers are able to accommodate the requirements of growing businesses with deployments that can be rolled out in minutes when they are needed. This also lets you scale back your use of servers when the peak period of activity has subsided.
Furthermore, modern server hosting solutions give you access to cutting edge hardware, software and security which would be prohibitively expensive to procure under your own steam.
Ultimately you must settle on what you want out of a server hosting solution, as well as what you can afford to pay for it.
These two things will allow you to pick and choose from the top bare metal and virtual server hosting products out there, and mean that you are making an informed decision rather than just falling for the marketing jargon.
