Best Bare Metal Server Providers in 2024: A Comprehensive Review
As businesses grow and their IT infrastructure demands increase, the need for high-performance, reliable, and scalable servers becomes essential. For companies with resource-heavy applications like AI, big data, gaming, or web hosting, bare metal servers offer a powerful solution. Bare metal servers provide exclusive access to physical hardware, ensuring superior performance, greater control, and improved security compared to virtualized environments.
Choosing the right bare metal server provider can be challenging, with multiple options offering various features and pricing structures. In this comprehensive review, we’ll evaluate the best bare metal server providers in 2024, helping you make an informed decision based on performance, customization, security, and cost.
1. IBM Cloud
IBM Cloud is a leading name in the bare metal server space, known for providing high-performance, fully customizable servers. IBM offers bare metal servers on both hourly and monthly billing options, with a wide range of configurations to suit different use cases, including AI workloads, database hosting, and complex computational tasks.
Key Features:
- Fully Customizable Hardware: Choose from a wide selection of CPUs, memory, storage, and network configurations to tailor the server to your specific needs.
- Global Data Centers: IBM Cloud has over 60 data centers worldwide, ensuring low-latency performance no matter where your customers are.
- DDoS Protection and Security: IBM offers integrated DDoS protection, firewall options, and end-to-end encryption.
- High Availability: Optional redundancy features and load balancing ensure uptime and reliability for critical applications.
Pricing:
- Starting at $499 per month for an entry-level server with 32 GB RAM, Intel Xeon processors, and 1 TB SSD storage.
- Hourly pricing starts from $1.50 to $3 per hour, depending on configuration.
Best For:
Businesses needing powerful, customizable servers for enterprise workloads, AI/ML applications, or global infrastructure.
2. OVHcloud
OVHcloud is a European leader in cloud and bare metal server offerings. Known for its cost-effective pricing and reliable performance, OVHcloud offers a wide range of bare metal servers, catering to small businesses and large enterprises alike.
Key Features:
- Affordable Pricing: OVHcloud is one of the most cost-effective bare metal server providers, offering competitive pricing for both standard and high-performance servers.
- Unmetered Bandwidth: Most OVHcloud bare metal servers come with unmetered bandwidth, making it ideal for bandwidth-heavy applications such as video streaming or large file hosting.
- Flexible Server Options: Choose from a variety of server types, including gaming servers, GPU-powered servers, and enterprise servers.
- Data Centers Across the Globe: With data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, OVHcloud offers low-latency access for global businesses.
Pricing:
- Starting at $89 per month for an entry-level server with 32 GB RAM, Intel Xeon E3 CPU, and 500 GB SSD storage.
- High-performance servers with 64 GB RAM and NVIDIA GPUs start at $299 per month.
Best For:
Small to medium-sized businesses, startups, or those looking for budget-friendly bare metal servers with unmetered bandwidth.
3. Hetzner
Hetzner, a Germany-based provider, has long been a favorite for businesses seeking cost-effective, high-performance servers. Hetzner is known for its affordable pricing, particularly in Europe, and offers powerful bare metal servers with high levels of customization.
Key Features:
- Low Pricing: Hetzner offers some of the most competitive pricing on the market, particularly for European customers.
- Custom Server Configurations: Choose from a variety of hardware configurations, including options for NVMe SSDs, large memory, and multi-core processors.
- Advanced Network and Security: Features such as private networks, DDoS protection, and custom firewall rules are available.
- Eco-Friendly Data Centers: Hetzner is also known for its energy-efficient data centers, reducing the carbon footprint of its infrastructure.
Pricing:
- Starting at €34 per month (approx. $37 USD) for an entry-level server with 32 GB RAM, Intel Xeon E3 CPU, and 1 TB HDD storage.
- High-performance servers with AMD EPYC processors and 128 GB RAM start at €119 per month.
Best For:
Businesses in Europe or those seeking cost-effective servers with solid performance and reliable infrastructure.
4. Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Bare Metal EC2 Instances
AWS is the global leader in cloud infrastructure and offers bare metal EC2 instances as part of its expansive product line. AWS provides enterprise-grade bare metal servers with access to on-demand scaling, advanced networking features, and a wide range of integrations with other AWS services.
Key Features:
- On-Demand Scalability: AWS allows businesses to easily scale up or down based on demand, ensuring flexibility without long-term commitments.
- Advanced Networking and Security: AWS offers VPCs (Virtual Private Clouds), DDoS protection via AWS Shield, and cloud-based firewalls, giving you advanced security options.
- Pay-As-You-Go Pricing: With AWS’s on-demand pricing, businesses only pay for what they use, making it a flexible option for fluctuating workloads.
- Global Reach: AWS has the largest number of data centers worldwide, offering low-latency access to customers globally.
Pricing:
- Bare metal EC2 instances start from $1,722 per month (or $2.34 per hour) for configurations with 96 GB RAM, Intel Xeon processors, and 1.5 TB SSD storage.
- Pricing varies significantly based on region, storage options, and usage.
Best For:
Enterprises that need global scalability, advanced security features, and integration with other AWS cloud services.
5. Liquid Web
Liquid Web is known for providing highly managed bare metal servers, making it ideal for businesses that need hands-on support and proactive monitoring. Liquid Web focuses on performance, security, and reliability, offering customizable server configurations along with fully managed services.
Key Features:
- Fully Managed Services: Liquid Web takes care of server management, security updates, and monitoring, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations.
- DDoS Protection and Backup: Built-in DDoS protection and automatic backups ensure data security and minimal downtime.
- Fast Deployment: Liquid Web offers instant deployment of bare metal servers, with the ability to customize hardware specifications.
- 100% Uptime SLA: Liquid Web guarantees 100% network uptime, making it highly reliable for mission-critical applications.
Pricing:
- Starting at $169 per month for an entry-level server with Intel Xeon 4-core processors, 32 GB RAM, and 480 GB SSD.
- Higher-end servers with 64 GB RAM and dual processors are priced at $349 per month.
Best For:
Businesses that need fully managed solutions, dedicated performance, and high availability, especially for e-commerce, financial services, and SaaS.
6. Vultr
Vultr is a cloud and bare metal provider known for its easy-to-use platform and affordable pricing. Vultr offers bare metal servers with instant deployment and a wide variety of global data center locations, making it ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.
Key Features:
- Instant Deployment: Vultr allows businesses to deploy bare metal servers in minutes, making it great for fast scaling needs.
- Affordable Pricing: Vultr offers highly competitive pricing, particularly for businesses looking for affordable bare metal solutions.
- Global Data Centers: With 17 data centers around the world, Vultr provides low-latency performance for global businesses.
- Simple User Interface: The platform is user-friendly, making server deployment and management easy for non-technical users.
Pricing:
- Starting at $120 per month for Intel Xeon processors, 64 GB RAM, and 10 TB bandwidth.
- Higher-performance options with 128 GB RAM and NVMe SSD storage are available starting at $300 per month.
Best For:
Startups and small businesses looking for affordable, easy-to-use bare metal servers with quick deployment options.
Conclusion: Choosing the Best Bare Metal Server Provider
When choosing a bare metal server provider in 2024, it’s important to consider your specific needs—whether it’s performance, flexibility, cost, or security. Here’s a quick summary to guide your decision:
Key Features:
- IBM Cloud: Best for high-performance, customizable servers for enterprise and AI workloads.
- OVHcloud: Ideal for those seeking budget-friendly servers with unmetered bandwidth.
- Hetzner: Perfect for European businesses looking for cost-effective servers.
- AWS (EC2 Bare Metal): Great for global scalability and integration with other cloud services.
- Liquid Web: Best for businesses needing fully managed solutions and dedicated support.
- Vultr: Perfect for startups and SMBs that need fast, affordable bare metal server options.
By evaluating factors such as cost, performance, scalability, and support, you can choose the right bare metal provider to meet your growing infrastructure needs in 2024.
Tags:
Bare Metal Servers, server providers 2024, IBM Cloud, OVHcloud, AWS bare metal, Hetzner, Liquid Web, Vultr, server comparison, server pricing, best bare metal servers