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Bare Metal → vs VM
Bare metal vs VM: Which performs better?
Choosing the right hosting solution is a critical decision for your business. Understanding bare metal vs virtualization differences is essential for optimal infrastructure decisions.
But what are they?
Bare metal refers to a dedicated physical server where the operating system runs directly on the hardware.
Virtualization uses a hypervisor to create multiple virtual machines that share the physical server’s resources.
The choice depends on priorities: choose bare metal for dedicated high-performance workloads, and virtualization for cost-effectiveness and rapid scaling.
Bare metal server hosting
Dedicated resources, high reliability, and optimal efficiency for workloads that demand performance and control
Bare metal vs VM overview
Bare metal servers and virtual machines represent two distinct approaches to hosting.
Bare metal servers offer dedicated physical hardware, providing maximum performance and control. In contrast, VMs are virtualized environments running on top of physical hardware, allowing for features and flexibility like snapshots and container migrations.
| Bare metal | VM | |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | Dedicated | Shared |
| Performance | High performance with no virtualization overhead | Good performance, but may share underlying hardware |
| Cost | Generally higher due to dedicated hardware | Lower initial costs, pay for what you use |
| Scalability | Requires physical hardware upgrades or a migration to a different server | Highly scalable with on-demand resources |
| Security | Enhanced security through isolation | Multi-tenant hypervisors may limit security options |
| Use cases | High-performance computing, dedicated applications, and static workloads | General application hosting, dynamic workloads |
| Customization | Full control over hardware and software | Usually predefined and static configurations |
| Deployment Time | Quick deployments. Provisioning time may extend depending on OS, control panel, and other deployment choices. | Rapid deployment with pre-configured templates |
The choice between bare metal and VM depends on your specific needs and business goals.
What is bare metal?
Bare metal provides complete physical isolation and direct hardware access. This means businesses gain full control over their infrastructure.
A bare metal server is a physical server without the overhead of a hypervisor or virtualization layer. Bare metal servers offer maximum performance as all physical resources are dedicated to a single tenant.
These servers are designed for businesses that need high-performance computing without the limitations of virtualized environments. Each server is customizable, allowing you to choose specifications that best meet your needs, whether you’re running resource-intensive applications, databases, or high-traffic websites..
What is a VM?
A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a physical computer that runs on a hypervisor. Because they are software-defined, VMs can be created quickly, scaled up or down, and even moved between physical servers as needed.
This flexibility comes from resource partitioning, which allows multiple VMs to share the cost and power of the underlying hardware. Each VM functions as its own independent environment within a physical server, enabling users to run multiple operating systems side by side. That makes them especially valuable for businesses that need to support diverse applications on different platforms without investing in extra hardware.
VMs can also be cloned or migrated with ease, giving organizations a dynamic way to adapt to changing workloads while keeping infrastructure efficient.
Each VM functions as an independent environment within a physical server, allowing users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. This flexibility is especially valuable for businesses needing diverse applications on different platforms without extra hardware. VMs can also be cloned or migrated, making them a dynamic solution for changing workloads.
Virtual machine offerings are tailored to deliver high performance and reliability.
1. Resources
Resources refer to the computing power and capacity a server provides – CPU cores, RAM, storage, and network bandwidth.
- Bare metal servers dedicate all CPU, RAM, and storage to a single tenant. This ensures no contention for resources, offering predictable performance for demanding workloads.
- Bare metal eliminates virtualization overhead for maximum resource utilization.
- Virtual machines share physical resources among multiple tenants through hypervisor allocation.
- VMs introduce approximately 5-12% performance overhead due to the hypervisor layer, depending on workload and resource type.
2. Performance
Performance measures how efficiently a server processes tasks—including speed, reliability, and responsiveness under different workloads.
- Bare metal servers deliver higher compute performance than VMs because there is no virtualization overhead..
- Direct hardware access in bare metal provides faster disk I/O and lower network latency.
- Bare metal offers predictable, consistent performance for latency-sensitive applications.
- VMs can experience performance degradation from the noisy neighbor effect when other tenants consume shared resources.
3. Cost
Cost includes hardware, software, maintenance, and scalability.
- Bare metal servers require higher upfront investment due to dedicated hardware.
- Bare metal becomes cost-effective for consistent, high-performance workloads over time.
- VMs offer lower initial costs through shared infrastructure and pay-as-you-go models.
- Scaling a VM-based solution can become expensive when workloads demand significant computing power.
4. Scalability
Scalability is the ability to increase or adjust server resources to meet changing demands.
- VMs can scale resources within minutes through software configuration.
- Bare metal scaling requires physical hardware changes or server replacements.
- Switch to bare metal when VM performance overhead becomes a bottleneck for growth.
5. Security
Security protects your data, applications, and infrastructure from risks.
- Bare metal provides complete physical isolation with no shared infrastructure vulnerabilities.
- Bare metal meets strict compliance requirements for healthcare and financial data.
- VMs operate in multi-tenant environments with hypervisor-level security boundaries.
- VMs have a larger potential attack surface but remain secure when configured with firewalls, encryption, and access controls.
6. Use cases
Use cases highlight when bare metal or virtual machines are the better fit.
- E-commerce sites with consistent high traffic benefit from bare metal’s dedicated resources.
- VMs suit e-commerce businesses with seasonal traffic fluctuations needing rapid scaling.
- High-traffic websites require bare metal when serving over 100,000 concurrent users.
- Websites with variable traffic patterns optimize costs using VM auto-scaling.
- Switch from VM to bare metal when experiencing consistent resource contention.
- Move to bare metal when noisy neighbor effects impact customer experience.
Bare metal is also ideal for AI, machine learning, and compliance-driven industries.
VMs are well suited for development, testing, and rapid deployment environments.
7. Customization
Customization refers to the ability to configure hardware, software, and system settings to meet specific performance, security, or application needs.
- Bare metal servers offer maximum customization because you control the entire physical machine.
- You can choose CPU, RAM, storage, and networking, and install any operating system or software without restrictions.
- Virtual machines provide moderate customization within the limits of the virtualized environment.
- Managed bare metal combines dedicated hardware performance with professional administration.
- Managed VMs provide flexibility while reducing operational overhead.
8. Deployment time
In server hosting, deployment time refers to how quickly a server can be set up and made operational for use.
A bare metal server typically has a longer deployment time, because the physical hardware needs to be provisioned, configured, and sometimes manually installed. An unmanaged bare metal server is usually deployed with automation and can be ready in about 40 minutes. A custom, managed bare metal hosting plan might take hours or days, depending on the config that needs to be manually racked and provisioned.
A virtual machine (VM) offers fast deployment since it runs on an existing physical server and can be created within minutes using automation tools. This makes VMs ideal for businesses that need on-demand resources, quick testing environments, or the ability to scale up and down rapidly.
Next steps for your bare metal vs VM decision
Start by assessing your current performance bottlenecks to see whether virtualization overhead is having a measurable impact. From there, calculate the total cost of ownership, factoring in not just hardware but also management and scaling needs. Finally, consider any compliance requirements that may mandate physical isolation, since this alone can determine whether bare metal is the right fit.
Bare metal servers often deliver superior performance, especially for resource-intensive applications, while VMs offer flexibility and scalability that can be advantageous for various workloads.
When you’re ready to upgrade, Liquid Web offers both fully managed bare metal servers and high-performance VPS solutions backed by expert support.
Additional resources
What is bare metal? →
A complete beginner’s guide to help you understand what it is, how it works, basic terminology, and much more
What is bare metal restore? →
Benefits, challenges, use cases, and more
What is bare metal automation? →
What it means, how it helps, how to get started, and more
Brooke Oates is a Product Manager at Liquid Web, specializing in Cloud VPS and Cloud Metal, with a successful history of IT/hosting and leadership experience. When she’s not perfecting servers, Brooke enjoys gaming and spending time with her kids.