Hybrid Cloud And Bare Metal Solutions: Benefits And Key Use Cases

Some businesses may rely purely on cloud-based solutions. Others may rely purely on physical hardware. Most businesses, however, now aim to leverage the benefits of both options in hybrid clouds. With that in mind, here is a straightforward guide to hybrid clouds and how bare metal solutions can fit into them.

The basics of hybrid cloud

At a very basic level, a hybrid cloud is a system that contains at least one cloud and at least one other environment. Originally, a typical private cloud was a public cloud service plus a private cloud, usually run on in-house hardware.

Now, hybrid clouds still generally include at least one public and at least one private environment. There is, however, much more variation in how the private component is implemented.

For example, bare metal servers and dedicated managed servers are now widely considered to be private environments, although they are hosted by third-party vendors. Similarly, many businesses now use colocation in preference to or alongside their own in-house data centers.

In fact, it’s becoming increasingly common for businesses to create ecosystems comprising both multiple public and multiple private elements. This allows them to create solutions customized to their many different needs.

Understanding bare metal servers

Bare metal servers are physical servers that are owned by a public cloud service provider (CSP) but dedicated to a single client. The CSP takes care of all the hands-on aspects of managing the server. The client manages everything else through a cloud interface.

Benefits of bare metal servers

To understand the benefits of bare metal servers, you need to understand how they compare to their alternatives. The nearest alternatives to bare metal servers are dedicated managed servers, followed by colocation and in-house infrastructure. Here is a quick overview of the benefits of bare metal servers compared to these options.

Performance and efficiency

Bare metal servers offer unparalleled performance by providing direct access to physical hardware without the overhead associated with virtualization. Unlike dedicated managed servers, which may be shared with other clients, bare metal servers are exclusively yours. This ensures that resources like CPU, memory, and storage are fully dedicated to your applications, leading to optimized performance and faster processing times.

Customizability and control

With bare metal servers, you have full control over hardware specifications, allowing you to tailor the server to meet specific performance and workload requirements. This contrasts with managed servers, where the provider controls the hardware, potentially limiting customization options.

At the same time, you also have the convenience of having a third-party vendor take care of all the hands-on practicalities of running a physical server in a data center. This can meaningfully reduce management overheads.

Security and isolation

Bare metal servers inherently offer a higher level of security than dedicated managed servers as the absence of a virtualized layer removes one attack vector. Colocation and in-house infrastructure both offer a higher level of isolation. This does, however, come with higher management overheads.

Cost predictability and management

Bare metal servers often come with fixed pricing models, making cost management more predictable compared to dedicated managed servers and colocation. Managed servers may involve variable costs based on resource usage, while colocation costs can be unpredictable due to additional fees for power, cooling, and bandwidth. In-house infrastructure incurs significant capital expenses and ongoing maintenance costs.

Scalability and flexibility

While bare metal servers are excellent for specific high-performance needs, they may lack the inherent scalability of cloud-based solutions. Dedicated managed servers and colocation facilities also have limitations when it comes to rapid scaling. If, however, bare metal servers can be a part of a hybrid approach, other elements of the ecosystem can compensate for this.

Use cases for bare metal servers in hybrid cloud solutions

Here are five common use cases for bare metal servers in hybrid cloud solutions

High-performance computing (HPC)

Bare metal servers excel in high-performance computing due to their direct access to physical CPUs and GPUs, crucial for intensive simulations and computations. In a hybrid cloud setup, these servers manage demanding tasks, while cloud resources handle less intensive workloads, combining high performance with scalable flexibility.

Big data analytics

Bare metal servers offer the raw power needed for the efficient processing of large datasets without performance degradation. In a hybrid cloud environment, these servers handle core analytics, while the cloud manages storage, backup, and additional processing capacity, balancing performance and scalability.

Gaming and virtual reality (VR)

Bare metal servers deliver low latency and high-performance graphics for gaming and VR applications. When paired with cloud resources in a hybrid setup, bare metal servers handle demanding computations, while the cloud manages game state and player interactions, ensuring smooth, responsive experiences.

Financial services

Bare metal servers support high-frequency trading and real-time risk analysis with minimal latency. Integrated into a hybrid cloud, these servers manage critical tasks, while the cloud provides backup, disaster recovery, and additional capacity during peak periods.

Development and testing

Bare metal servers are ideal for developing and testing resource-intensive applications due to their performance and customization. In a hybrid cloud setup, they handle development and testing, while the cloud supports staging and deployment, offering flexibility and scalability.