Whilst bare metal servers are generally considered to be one of the pricier server hosting options at potentially hundreds of pounds per month, they can actually be very cost-effective depending on your business’s needs and infrastructure. Thanks to their down-to-the-minute billing and virtualisation potential, bare metal servers handle fluctuating workloads more efficiently to bring down your overall costs.
But how much does a bare metal server actually cost? This is a pretty complex question due to the many factors affecting the cost of your server, including server specifications, resources, data centre location, operating system (OS) licensing fees, hosting provider support, and so on, but by breaking down these costs and comparing bare metal servers to other web hosting options, we can give you a better idea of whether these servers are right for you.
What is a bare metal server?
First, let’s clear up some of the basics. If you’re completely unfamiliar with bare metal servers, we’d recommend starting with our Ultimate Guide to Bare Metal Servers for a comprehensive overview of what they are, their benefits, use cases, and comparisons with other types of servers.
A bare metal server is a single-tenant physical server – this means that all of the server resources (including RAM, CPU, storage, etc.) are dedicated to one client. Plus, since there are no other clients on the server to worry about, you get full root access to customise the server however you want, and you won’t have to deal with the “noisy neighbour” effect or potential security and privacy issues from other people.
Due to the amount of power and control bare metal server hosting offers, it’s usually preferred by larger enterprises that need to run complex, resource-intensive projects including AI algorithm training, big data processing, customer data management, high-traffic ecommerce website hosting, and app development.
Bare metal servers vs dedicated servers
Bare metal servers are similar to dedicated servers because both of them are physical servers dedicated entirely to one client. However, they’re not entirely the same.
Both types of hosting are on the expensive end of the scale and are therefore typically used by larger organisations that need more resources and control. However, their pricing can differ because of the potential to virtualise your bare metal server. By using a bare metal hypervisor to split your bare metal server into separate virtual machines (VMs) – each with their own allocated resources and OS – you can split your workloads between the physical server and VMs to take advantage of the scalability, cost effectiveness and flexibility of virtual servers.
Bare metal servers vs cloud servers
A bare metal server is a physical server dedicated to one client, but a cloud server is a virtualised server running in a cloud computing environment, which means it can be accessed remotely and share resources across a global network of cloud servers. Cloud hosting is cheaper because you’re using shared resources rather than having your own isolated server, but it brings plenty of benefits in terms of scalability and flexibility. With a cloud server, you only pay for the resources you use, which means you’re not locked into a fixed monthly payment.
Cloud servers have a pre-installed hypervisor layer, which is why a single set of hardware can run multiple VMs to create a cloud network. As mentioned above, bare metal servers are typically physical-only like a dedicated server, but they can be virtualised with the installation of a bare metal hypervisor. For example, Fasthosts Bare Metal Servers are supported by our CloudNX infrastructure, which enables virtualisation and gives you the power of dedicated resources with the flexibility of a cloud server. This means that, unlike dedicated hosting, bare metal hosting gives you the option to start, stop and pause your server whenever you need, and you’ll get down-to-the-minute billing so that you only pay for the resources you use – much like a cloud server. This is very useful for keeping costs down on projects with fluctuating resource demands, such as hosting a website with seasonal traffic peaks.
Bare metal private cloud
Through the power of server virtualisation, you can use your bare metal server to create a private cloud network for your organisation. With a private cloud setup, you can utilise the superior storage and power of a physical server alongside the scalability and flexibility of VMs to handle varying workloads. Plus, if you use load balancers too, you can spread out traffic among your servers to prevent server overload.
A bare metal cloud setup offers performance, control, customisation and scalability benefits, and is particularly useful for industries that have regular peaks and troughs in traffic. However, the initial set-up process can be time-consuming and challenging. You’ll likely need a dedicated IT team in your organisation to handle this for you, and they will also need to keep up with server and cloud maintenance to ensure everything continues to run smoothly.
Overall, you’ll need to balance the cost of this infrastructure setup and maintenance with your cost savings from being able to scale resources and stop and start your server as needed. If your resource needs fluctuate a lot, or you’re only working on a resource-intensive project for a small part of the year, a bare metal cloud setup may be worth it.
Bare metal server cost breakdown
Now that we’re more familiar with bare metal servers and how they compare to similar products, let’s look at a more detailed cost breakdown to figure out how much a bare metal server may cost for your projects.
Hardware costs
The first category we need to consider is hardware costs. As you can imagine, a bare metal server with more updated technology and a greater amount of computing resources, including storage, RAM and CPUs, will be more expensive than a less powerful bare metal server.
Storage
Bare metal servers with plenty of storage space can get very pricey. Looking at our own offers, you can see that our cheapest Fasthosts Bare Metal Server costs £40 per month and offers 1TB of HDD storage, whilst our most expensive Bare Metal Server costs £720 per month for 38TB SSD storage. As you can see, there’s a huge range of bare metal server prices out there, even from the same hosting company. Therefore, having a good understanding of how much storage you really need will help you choose the right server for an appropriate price.
But it’s not just the amount of storage you need to consider. The type of storage will also have a huge impact on how much your bare metal server costs, with SSD (solid state drive) storage being more expensive than HDD (hard disk drive) storage. You can learn more about these types of server storage in our post on the advantages of SSD storage, but the gist is that SSD storage is a more modern technology that offers much faster data access and read/write speeds, plus increased durability and reduced energy consumption. This is because SSDs store data permanently using flash memory chips, whereas HDDs use mechanical motors and other moving parts.
RAM
Another necessary type of server storage is RAM (random access memory), which is the hardware that provides temporary storage and short-term memory. RAM is much faster than secondary storage (HDDs and SSDs) to allow quick access for caching, loading frequently used programs, and multitasking. However, RAM is volatile, which means it only retains data while the device is on. When the device is rebooted, files must be reloaded into RAM from your HDD or SSD.
As single-tenant physical servers, bare metal servers offer a lot of RAM compared to cheaper hosting options like shared hosting and virtual private servers (VPS). However, if you need a huge amount of RAM for projects that require you to process lots of data simultaneously, such as AI algorithm training and 3D rendering, you’ll need to opt for a server on the more expensive end of the scale. Here at Fasthosts, our Bare Metal Servers offer between 16GB RAM and a whopping 256GB RAM.
Some servers with a huge amount of RAM may offer less permanent storage, such as our AMD EPYC 7543P model at £435 per month, and this may be a more cost-efficient solution if RAM is a priority for your projects.
CPU
A CPU (central processing unit) is a computer’s primary processor – it runs the OS and applications, executes program instructions, performs complex calculations, and much more. Essentially, it’s the ‘brain’ of the device, sending signals to multiple separate components to control the system as a whole. With a more powerful CPU, you can perform tasks like 3D rendering, high-end gaming and video editing much more efficiently.
You also need to pay attention to factors like clock speed and the number of cores. Clock speed refers to speed at which the CPU executes instructions, and CPUs with multiple cores can process multiple sets of instructions at the same time. Generally, multi-core processors are better for multitasking, and higher clock speeds provide better performance for single-threaded applications.
Naturally, a CPU with better specs will be more expensive, making your bare metal hosting cost more per month. For example, some of our more expensive Bare Metal Servers have up to 32 cores in their CPUs – such as our AMD EPYC 7543P model – which means they’re brilliant for multitasking.
Optional: GPU
Some bare metal servers have GPUs (graphical processing units) rather than CPUs. GPUs process tasks in parallel rather than serially (like a CPU), which means they can run more calculations at the same time to improve overall efficiency. Therefore, GPU servers are frequently used for parallel processing, improved graphics rendering, and intense computational workloads, including tasks like machine learning algorithm development.
Due to their amazing performance and parallel processing potential, GPU servers and bare metal GPU servers tend to be more expensive. However, this extra cost may be worth it for you if the improved processing power will help you significantly increase your overall productivity.
Software costs
Most people focus on hardware costs when it comes to finding a bare metal server within their budget, and it’s true that this has a huge impact on pricing. However, you also need to consider software costs and how they will affect not only the initial price, but also ongoing server management.
First, consider your preferred OS – will there be any licensing fees to pay? Windows operating systems come with a licensing fee, which is usually paid by your hosting provider but passed down to the customer through slightly higher hosting costs. On the other hand, many Linux distributions are free and open-source.
Next, consider the types of software you will want to install on your bare metal server. One of the greatest benefits of bare metal hosting is that you get full root access to install any software you want on the system, but the downside is that you’re responsible for installing, updating and maintaining this software, in addition to paying any related licensing fees or subscription costs. Always factor these potential costs into your budget when looking for a bare metal server hosting plan.
Data centre costs
Once you’ve figured out software and hardware costs, the next thing to consider is the costs associated with housing your bare metal server in a data centre. Most bare metal server customers will choose to rent their server from a hosting provider rather than buy the hardware outright. This is a much cheaper and easier option, as your hosting provider will handle hardware maintenance and pay for necessary on-site costs such as power, server cooling and physical security. Since they have large data centres that host servers for many customers, these necessary costs can be split between them to make them more manageable. If you bought your own bare metal server and kept it in your on-site server room, you would have to pay these cooling and security costs yourself for just one server, which is very inefficient.
However, owning your server hardware may be a good idea for you if you want full control over all aspects of server customisation and maintenance. To get around the high costs of running your own server room or data centre, you can use a service called colocation. This is where you rent space in a provider’s data centre rather than renting a server, which means you can purchase your own server outright and simply house it in your provider’s data centre. Your provider will take care of on-site server cooling and security, but you would be able to access your server hardware to handle maintenance when required. Therefore, if you choose colocation, you should pick a data centre provider in a convenient location so you can get there easily if there’s a hardware problem you need to fix.
Management costs
Finally, you need to consider how the day-to-day management of your bare metal server will affect your monthly server costs. We’ve already briefly touched on this when discussing server hosting vs colocation, as the latter requires you to take a more active role in hardware maintenance. If you choose colocation, remember to factor in costs for potential hardware fixes, labour costs, travel costs, and so on.
If you choose server hosting, you may be able to customise the amount of software management you need to do. Some hosting providers offer managed and unmanaged bare metal servers, with the former being more expensive. With a managed hosting plan, your provider will take care of daily server maintenance tasks such as resource monitoring, software updates, data backups, and troubleshooting – and all of these services come at a cost. Choosing unmanaged bare metal hosting will keep your monthly costs lower, but remember that you’ll have to manage server software yourself. This may involve hiring an IT team to take care of server maintenance, which will come with its own associated costs.
Ultimately, if you need more support from your hosting provider, this will increase your monthly bare metal hosting costs. However, if you plan to take on more yourself to keep costs down, remember that there still may be costs involved in terms of hiring IT professionals and fixing server issues.
How much a bare metal server costs: Recap
Many factors will affect the final cost of your bare metal server. Here’s a quick recap of all of the different factors you’ll need to consider when setting your budget and choosing a bare metal hosting package:
- Virtualisation – Do you plan to install a bare metal hypervisor and create a bare metal cloud setup? Private cloud setup and maintenance can be costly due to the greater effort and resources involved.
- Storage – How much storage do you need, and will you choose cheaper HDDs or more expensive (but superior) SSDs?
- RAM – Again, how much do you need to handle your projects?
- CPUs and GPUs – What clock speed and number of cores are you looking for, and will this fit within your budget? Alternatively, could investing in a GPU be suitable for your project?
- Operating system and software – Are there any licensing fees and subscriptions to be aware of? What will be the ongoing costs associated with software management?
- Colocation vs server hosting – Would you prefer to buy your own hardware, and how will this affect both your initial costs and ongoing maintenance costs? Would the increased spending and maintenance be worth it to gain more control over your server?
- Management support – Are you interested in more management support from your provider, or would you prefer to keep costs down and retain more control?
Of course, all of these costs should be balanced against your expected profits. In some cases, investing more money into things like better resources, technology and server support can greatly increase your efficiency, productivity and overall profits, making the initial investment worthwhile.
Let’s not forget the importance of choosing the right bare metal hosting provider! Different providers will offer vastly different prices, so do your research and check their offers, benefits and SLAs.
Here at Fasthosts, we offer Bare Metal Servers ranging from £40 per month to £720 per month, allowing us to cater for businesses large and small. But no matter which package you pick, you’ll benefit from the same 99.999% uptime guarantee, excellent security, full root access, and 24/7 support. Get in touch today to learn more about our Bare Metal Servers and get support with choosing the right plan.