Table of contents

Bare metal for security1. Physical isolation2. Granular control3. Reduced attack surface 4. Hardware-level security advantages5. Easier path to complianceCommon use casesWhy misconfiguration mattersKey advantagesFAQWhy misconfiguration matters

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Bare Metal → Security

How bare metal servers improve security

When it comes to securing your infrastructure, the tools and configurations you use matter—but so does the type of server you’re using. Bare metal servers offer a level of isolation and control that’s hard to match in cloud or virtualized environments. And for many businesses, that translates into stronger security across the board.

Let’s break down why bare metal is becoming the smarter economic choice—and how it gives businesses back control of their performance, spend, and scale.

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Why businesses are turning to bare metal for security

Security concerns are no longer just for enterprise IT teams. Small businesses, healthcare providers, ecommerce shops, and startups are all facing increased pressure to protect customer data and comply with regulations.

Many of these threats—like hypervisor attacks, data leakage, or noisy neighbor vulnerabilities—stem from shared environments.

That’s where bare metal servers come in. Unlike public cloud instances, bare metal servers give you complete control of an entire physical machine. No hypervisors, no shared infrastructure, no mystery tenants.

1. Physical isolation eliminates shared infrastructure risks

The most obvious security benefit of bare metal servers is that they’re single-tenant. You’re not sharing the physical hardware with anyone else: no neighbors, no shared RAM, no risk of a misconfigured virtual machine bleeding into yours.

In a traditional virtualized environment, multiple users share the same server using a hypervisor—a layer of software that allows several operating systems to run simultaneously. While convenient and cost-effective, this setup creates risks:

A vulnerability in the hypervisor can potentially allow one tenant to access another’s data.
Noisy neighbor attacks (where another tenant monopolizes CPU or bandwidth) can expose performance or availability issues.
Shared storage or memory can open the door to side-channel attacks like Meltdown or Spectre.

With bare metal, none of that applies. Your server is yours alone. If you don’t install it, it’s not there. That makes it easier to lock down and trust the environment.

2. Granular control over security architecture

When you rent a bare metal server, you don’t just get access to the operating system, you get full control of the entire hardware and software stack. That means:

You choose the OS and configure it from the kernel up.
You control which ports are open, what services are running, and how users authenticate.
You can set up custom firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and security rules.
You can segment networks to isolate traffic and limit exposure.

Compare that to a VPS or cloud instance, where some features (like BIOS settings, host-level firewalls, or firmware patches) may be outside your reach. With bare metal, if you want to lock it down, you can.

3. Reduced attack surface compared to virtualized environments

Virtualization introduces additional layers of software that must be secured and maintained. These layers (hypervisors, virtual switches, cloud APIs, etc.) can be exploited if not patched or configured properly. Each one adds complexity, and complexity increases the chances of a security hole being missed.

Bare metal strips all that away. With no virtualization layer, there are:

Fewer interfaces exposed to the internet
Fewer default services running
No inter-VM traffic that could be sniffed or hijacked

That reduction in attack surface is one of the most compelling reasons to choose bare metal for sensitive workloads. It’s a simpler system with fewer moving parts, and that makes it easier to secure.

4. Hardware-level security advantages

Bare metal servers also allow for deeper integration with hardware-based security features that aren’t always available in virtualized environments. These include:

Trusted Platform Module (TPM): A physical chip that stores cryptographic keys and verifies system integrity
Secure Boot: Ensures only signed and verified operating systems can start on your server
Out-of-band management tools (like IPMI or iDRAC): Let you monitor, update, and lock down the server at the firmware level
Disk-level encryption with BIOS lockdown: Keeps data protected even if drives are removed or stolen

When you control the hardware, you control every aspect of how that hardware is secured.

5. Easier path to compliance

If your business needs to meet regulatory standards like PCI DSS (for payment data), HIPAA (for health data), or GDPR (for EU customer data), bare metal can make compliance easier in several ways:

Isolation: No tenant crossover means you don’t have to prove your neighbors are secure.
Data locality: You know exactly where your data resides—down to the rack and drive.
Auditability: You can generate complete logs across every layer of your infrastructure.
Customization: You can build the exact controls required by your compliance frameworks.

Virtual environments often require extra compensating controls to meet these same standards. With bare metal, the foundation is already secure.

Common use cases where security matters most

Bare metal servers aren’t just for the enterprise. They’re used by organizations of all sizes that need to protect sensitive data, isolate workloads, or comply with strict rules. Some common scenarios include:

Healthcare platforms hosting electronic health records (EHRs)
Finance or banking apps processing transactions or storing account data
Ecommerce stores handling credit card information and order histories
SaaS businesses deploying multi-tenant applications with hard tenant isolation
IoT and edge deployments where local processing must be secured on dedicated hardware
Government contractors managing classified or compliance-bound systems

If security is a priority, bare metal is a strong fit, no matter the size of your organization.

Why misconfiguration matters: user responsibility on bare metal

There’s a catch: bare metal puts you in the driver’s seat. That control also comes with responsibility.

If you don’t apply security patches, no one will do it for you.
If you expose SSH or RDP to the public internet, you’re the one who has to lock it down.
If you forget to back up your data or implement monitoring, there’s no safety net.

Bare metal is more secure if it’s properly configured. It’s not “secure by default” like some managed cloud environments. But for teams that are willing to put in the effort, it offers unmatched security potential.

Actually, an even easier solution is managed bare metal servers. Managed hosting adds an extra layer of service and support that enables your service provider to take care of all the technical server stuff, like installs, security monitoring, patches, server management, etc.

Key advantages over VPS or cloud instances

Let’s recap how bare metal compares to other common hosting environments:

Feature	Bare Metal Server	Shared Cloud Instance
Physical Isolation	Yes	No
Hypervisor Attack Risk	None	Present
Admin Control	Full	Limited to OS level
Hardware-Level Security	Fully customizable	Often abstracted or restricted
Compliance Compatibility	Easier to demonstrate	Harder to isolate tenant data
Shared Resources	None	Yes (CPU, memory, I/O, etc.)

FAQ: bare metal server security

Yes. Bare metal servers are more secure by design because you’re not sharing infrastructure with anyone else. There’s no virtualization layer, no other tenants, and no shared memory or storage—all of which reduces risk and simplifies security hardening.

In cybersecurity, bare metal refers to a dedicated physical server that runs a single operating system directly on the hardware. It’s the opposite of a virtualized or containerized environment and is often used in high-security contexts where isolation and control are critical.

A bare metal server is a physical machine dedicated to one customer. Unlike a VPS or cloud instance that shares hardware with others, a bare metal server gives you exclusive access to all components—CPU, RAM, storage, and network interfaces—without any virtualization layers.

Full control over hardware and software
No noisy neighbors or resource sharing
Lower risk of hypervisor-based attacks
Easier to meet compliance requirements
Customizable security from the BIOS up

Next steps for improving security with bare metal servers

Bare metal servers give businesses unmatched control over their infrastructure, which is perfect for isolating sensitive workloads and reducing risks from shared environments. (But the security benefits only shine when the environment is properly configured and maintained.)

When you’re ready to upgrade to a dedicated server—or upgrade your server hosting—Liquid Web can help. Our bare metal server hosting options have been leading the industry for decades, because they’re fast, secure, and completely reliable. Choose your favorite OS and the management tier that works best for you.

Click below to explore dedicated bare metal server options or start a chat with one of our experts to learn more.