Hosting and maintenance of bare metal servers can be expensive. Running an on-premises bare metal server can be an even more terrible experience. The reason could be the lack of the capital investment needed to build a full-fledged data center. But luckily, you do not have to build a data center to host your bare-metal server. You always have the option of bare-metal colocation providers. It is the topic of this article. 

What is Bare Metal Colocation?

Bare Metal Colocation deploys workloads on servers hosted in a colocation facility directly. Deploying workloads via Virtual Machines in a colocation center is also possible. But you may need to refactor the hypervisor so the VM can access the server's physical hardware. Bare Metal seeks to solve this problem.

Bare metal infrastructure lets you deploy workloads directly on the servers without refactoring the hypervisor. It is ideal when you want to deploy workloads that need higher use of physical machines.

Public Cloud for Bare Metal

You can also use public cloud infrastructure for bare-metal workloads deployment. Here are some advantages of using a bare metal cloud. First of all, workload deployment becomes straightforward. Second, you only pay for what you use. Third, you can use similar tools to run virtual machines and bare-metal servers.

With bare-metal cloud, businesses can run resource-intensive applications securely. There are no other customers sharing it. The set up is ideal for mission-critical systems or applications requiring high security and privacy levels.

Let's discuss the advantages in more detail.

Wider Selection

There are no bare-metal server options with the public cloud. The case is the opposite with colocation centers. Run any bare metal server you want in a colocation center. You can also expand your IT capacity by outsourcing bare-metal server hosting to a colocation service. The company would have more time for research and development. They can save the time of regular troubleshooting of infrastructure.

Flexibility

You can manage your server as per your needs if you host the bare-metal server in a colocation facility. But if you go for the public cloud, you do not get the tools that can grant you absolute control of your servers. Also, you can have smart agreement terms with your vendor to scale the services as your business expands. You can plan long-term without spending too much on one project.

Bare-metal-as-a-Service

It is a model where a vendor deploys dedicated bare-metal infrastructure to the customer's data center with three things. First is the same level of convenience. Second is the scalability of cloud service, and third is on-demand agility.

This means you get two-fold benefits. First, you enjoy the speed and scalability of the public cloud. The second benefit is the security of colocation.

Better Uptime & Reliability

Insufficient power is a big no. It prevents you from having better uptime reliability with on-premise bare metal servers. System downtime can damage your brand reputation and decrease sales. So, a colocation facility with better infrastructure is the best option. Uptime reliability varies from provider to provider.

And the best thing is no refactoring required. You can run your non-virtualized application in a hypervisor environment. And you do not have to refactor the hypervisor in a virtualized environment.

What To Look for When Choosing Bare Metal Colocation Provider

Every provider is not worth your attention. Before you sign up with any colocation service, you must check a few things:

Core Competency

Running a bare-metal environment and multi-tenant cloud environments need different levels of skills. Your ideal provider should have hands-on experience in bare-metal cloud computing and colocation. Check their complete history to make sure they have. Also, try to get in touch with their customer base. If they have successfully managed diverse workloads, they are your ideal partner. Find out how the service handles particular client needs.

Configuration Options

Try to go with the one that provides the broadest bare-metal configurations. It would decrease the chances of signing up with a company that cannot scale to meet your needs. Neither would you be stuck with some company that offers much more computing power than you need.

Location

You have an optimized bare-metal infrastructure and application environment if you have a good location. You can also reach out to your entire audience. But if you choose the wrong location, you will face inefficiency and instability. The location should be strategic enough to let you control your environment and entertain your customers better.

Resilience

Redundant networking and power backup are the two most essential components. Your ideal partner must have the resources to increase the resilience of workloads hosted in the facility. Also, ensure that the facility offers disaster recovery services so you can restore to the latest versions. The data center should be able to withstand hurricanes and floods.

Interconnect

Every bare-metal colocation facility provides high-performing network connectivity solutions. Differences lie in the performance of their interconnect options.

Putting It All Together

Yes, public cloud solutions have their advantages. But, bare-metal colocation is one of the best options when you want to leverage the flexibility and protection of bare-metal colocation infrastructure.