MASTERING BARE METAL

[00:00:01] Host:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Mastering Bare Metal, presented by Liquid Web. We’ll get started in just a moment. Today, we’re bringing you another exciting session, hosted by Brooke Oates, one of my favorite colleagues here at Liquid Web. Brooke has been an invaluable source of knowledge for me, and I’m sure she will be for everyone here as well. She’ll be talking about integrating workloads and deployment with our bare metal hosting solution. Without further ado, I’ll hand it over to Brooke, our Product Manager for core hosting products.

[00:01:07] Brooke Oates:
Hello, everyone! Let’s dive right in. Today, we’ll cover the following:

• Understanding bare metal – an overview of our new product released earlier this year.
• Workflow and development enhancements – through APIs and integrations.
• Integrating bare metal with existing IT infrastructure – connecting it seamlessly with the systems and products you already use.

We’ll end with a Q&A session.

Starting with bare metal, this product is part of our new lineup alongside dedicated servers, and it offers performance without the overhead. Unlike cloud products, there’s no virtualization involved. With our unbundled options, you only pay for what you need. This means you’re not required to purchase additional features like management or control panels unless they’re essential for your setup.

These are rack-mount, server-grade systems — no towers. Every component has redundancy, and each system is fully hardware-isolated. We’re building bare metal specifically for a self-managed environment, giving you tools and integrations to create a platform or product with minimal frills, focused solely on performance and control.

Our goal is to make bare metal a consistent experience with our other self-managed products, like cloud VPS and our bare metal cloud (formerly cloud metal). Bare metal features are live now, but we’re adding more in 2024. Key updates will include:

• API and automation features: Essential for true self-management, allowing automation in provisioning, basic management, and termination.
• Rapid provisioning: We aim for within-the-hour setup times, potentially even faster.

Our goal is to make bare metal as accessible as a traditional VPS, with the same rapid provisioning you’d expect. This means providing a pure, non-virtualized hardware experience that’s automated and fast. Right now, we have a limited selection of configurations available on our site, but we’ll be adding more options and expanding hardware configurations. We’re also looking to extend availability to additional data centers to keep it consistent with our cloud VPS and bare metal cloud products.

We’re also introducing hourly billing for bare metal, so you can leverage automation and only pay for the time you use the system. This is ideal for setups that utilize continuous integration, deployment, and other automated workflows.

Looking ahead, we have a roadmap for bare metal with a focus on self-management. In line with our cloud VPS and bare metal cloud products, we’re planning to add fully managed options, as well as integrated control panel deployment and licensing directly from Liquid Web. This will allow users to choose between self-managed and fully managed setups across all three product lines, with flexibility for any use case.

Further API development is also planned for 2024. We’ll be introducing core API functionality, with additional deployment and automation features to enhance your experience with bare metal.

The product family includes cloud VPS, bare metal cloud, and bare metal server product lines.

• Cloud VPS: Cloud VPS serves individuals and smaller to mid-sized hosting needs, offering flexible options for development and testing. Starting as low as $5 for self-managed options, it can scale up to larger instances and provides instant resizing, which is particularly useful for automation when paired with hourly billing.
• Bare metal cloud: Bare metal cloud, on the other hand, combines the benefits of cloud flexibility with the dedicated hardware performance of bare metal. It’s ideal for users needing an entire server’s resources with cloud convenience, including instant resizing and seamless scalability between cloud VPS and bare metal cloud.
• Bare metal server: Bare metal server is designed for those who need direct hardware access and want to deploy their own virtualization solutions like KVM or ESXi. By removing the virtualization layer, it maximizes performance, making it perfect for users who prioritize control and raw hardware access.

To sum up, each of these options serves different needs, from flexible VPS instances to dedicated hardware, and they’re designed to work seamlessly together. Cloud VPS and bare metal cloud support instant resizing, while bare metal server offers direct hardware access for custom virtualization. Integrated backups and snapshots are available on cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, but bare metal server, lacking the virtualization layer, requires manual backup management.

With extensive APIs for cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, and additional API support coming for bare metal server, each product line is built to allow users to pay only for the resources they need, with self-management options across the board.

All three products — cloud VPS, bare metal cloud, and bare metal server — are built on a foundation of self-management. Currently, cloud VPS and bare metal cloud offer scalability options, while bare metal server is self-managed only. However, a fully managed option for bare metal server is on our roadmap to ensure a consistent experience across all products.

Provisioned control panels are available on cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, allowing you to select and pre-install licenses from the start. This feature will soon be extended to bare metal server as well. Additionally, management through our portal — such as start, stop, and console functionality — offers a uniform experience across products. Hourly billing is already available for cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, and it’s coming soon for bare metal server.

Now, let’s discuss how bare metal fits alongside our dedicated server product line. Currently, bare metal servers are designed with unbundled product options, letting you select only the resources you need. Rapid provisioning and a robust API are coming this year, enhancing self-management capabilities so you can build and deploy with precision. Unlike dedicated servers, which focus on fully managed experiences with bundled options (such as control panels and backup solutions), bare metal servers focus on self-management and efficient deployment.

Our dedicated server product line caters to users needing a fully managed solution, offering hardware customization and a curated bundle for a fully operational system, including features like Acronis backups. Bare metal servers, on the other hand, come in a prescribed set of configurations to facilitate faster delivery.

Regarding API enhancements, Liquid Web’s API already supports cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, allowing users to leverage extensive management features. Core API functionality will be available for bare metal server this year, though features like resizing will not be available. Our goal is to create a consistent, unified API experience across all three product lines.

What does this API optimization mean for you? Here are some potential use cases with bare metal server:

• Automated cluster deployment and scaling: With rapid provisioning and API integration, you can design clusters with automation and scale them to meet your needs.
• Continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD): Use bare metal servers for production-level tests, leveraging hourly billing to pay only for active hours.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Use Liquid Web as your dynamic infrastructure, allowing you to deploy and manage systems without the need for manual provisioning.

This unified API covers the three product lines within this family. Cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, with their virtualization layer, provide benefits like resizing, snapshots, and integrated backups, while bare metal servers offer direct hardware access for maximum performance. Integrating these products allows you to seamlessly automate and manage production, testing, and staging workflows.

Here’s an outline of the potential use cases for each product.

Cloud VPS is ideal for development and testing environments with variable resource demands. It’s suited for workflows where resources may grow or shrink unexpectedly, making it great for services that need flexibility. For staging and some production environments, cloud VPS works well, especially if resource demands are moderate. For higher resource needs, you can easily scale to a dedicated hardware environment like bare metal cloud, or, if you find you don’t need as much power, you can downsize back to cloud VPS.

Bare metal cloud provides a middle ground. You can start with smaller dedicated hardware, scaling up as needed. If your application requires dedicated hardware but still has fluctuating demands, bare metal cloud allows you to grow to a dual-zone system if required.

Bare metal server is best for high-demand production use cases with predictable, static resource needs. If you require custom virtualization solutions, such as KVM or ESXi, bare metal server’s direct hardware access is ideal. It’s also well-suited for applications that don’t require frequent migrations or changes in infrastructure.

Unified portal and API experience
While we offer a robust API for automation, infrastructure as code, and other advanced use cases, we also prioritize a seamless portal experience for users who don’t consume our API directly. Common actions, such as start/stop functionality, are integrated directly into the portal. Even for bare metal systems that lack virtualization, users can start, stop, and access the console directly through our portal without relying on external applications. More portal features will continue to be added to enhance usability.

Integrating bare metal with existing IT infrastructure
Here’s how bare metal can streamline and optimize your infrastructure:

• Eliminate wasted spend: With the upcoming hourly billing for bare metal server (already available for cloud VPS and bare metal cloud), you can deploy systems as needed, pay for the active hours, and terminate them when done, reducing unnecessary spend. Systems can be ready on demand but only incur costs when actively in use.
• Seamless horizontal scaling: Through API integrations, you can automate horizontal scaling to meet increased traffic, such as seasonal spikes. Bare metal servers provide the raw performance needed to handle these demands dynamically.
• Efficient testing environments: By combining cloud VPS for lower-cost slices and bare metal servers for full-scale testing, you can automate deployments from testing to staging to production, saving time on setup and maximizing testing efficiency.
• Infrastructure as code: For businesses building new platforms, services, or applications, our infrastructure-as-a-service offerings allow you to manage deployments, terminations, and scaling through code. This lets you maintain infrastructure as needed without managing physical resources.
• Custom and complex applications: Bare metal servers provide the self-managed, flexible environment needed for complex applications. They allow for custom clusters and specialized solutions that may not be feasible on fully managed platforms.

Integration with the Liquid Web platform
Here we have a diagram that showcases an example workflow across our product family, with cloud VPS handling development, bare metal cloud used for staging, and bare metal server for high-performance production:

• Cloud VPS supports development with small, flexible VPS slices for various instances — production copies, feature branches, and a development SQL database.
• Bare metal cloud is used in this scenario for more intensive testing and staging, simulating real-world conditions with a staging database.
• Bare metal server provides the raw power needed for production, with dedicated hardware for the production SQL database and web server. It’s also used here for load testing, where changes from development are tested for performance impact.

Arrows in the diagram illustrate how automation flows through different environments using tools like Git and CI/CD for seamless movement from development to staging to production. Each step in this workflow can be fully automated via API, enabling efficient and streamlined operations.

All aspects of deployment and management for this system are fully manageable through our API. This aligns with our “pay only for what you need” philosophy. For example, once you’re done with a feature or load-testing work, you can spin down those instances and only pay for the hours used, optimizing workflow and allowing you to scale up or down as needed while paying only for the resources you actively use.

Migration and integration considerations
Bare metal server is our high-performance option, but it’s not necessarily ideal for every use case. Unlike cloud VPS and bare metal cloud, bare metal server does not support resizing, so if you need to increase resources, it requires a traditional migration.

For applications with variable traffic needs, cloud VPS and bare metal cloud may be more flexible options, allowing you to scale from a low-cost $5 cloud VPS up to a high-capacity $475-per-month dual-zone bare metal cloud, and back down again, without the need for migration. Bare metal server is typically best for workloads with stable, known resource demands.

Another consideration is that bare metal server does not include an integrated backup solution. You would need to implement a custom solution if backups are required. We do offer cloud block storage that can be added to bare metal servers for backup, but it requires manual setup. For integrated backups and snapshot functionality out of the box, cloud VPS and bare metal cloud are better suited.
With this in mind, bare metal server is positioned for high-performance, stable workloads and more complex deployments. With all three product lines — cloud VPS, bare metal cloud, and bare metal server — we offer a versatile solution set that serves the self-managed market well.

Q&A
Let’s move to the Q&A.

[00:21:33] [Host]
Thank you, Brooke. That was fantastic. Can you discuss the types of industries or workloads that would most benefit from bare metal?

[00:22:25] [Brooke]
Absolutely. Bare metal server can support a wide range of industries — anything needing a self-managed solution. It could be used for deploying gaming infrastructure, scaling a large site with multiple servers, or building a custom clustered setup. It’s particularly useful for any application that’s outgrown a single-server environment, as it offers direct hardware access for maximum performance, with no virtualization.

[00:23:07] [Host]
Can you give an example of how bare metal servers enable horizontal scaling?

[00:23:21] [Brooke]
Sure. With bare metal, horizontal scaling would require the customer to implement it through their own development. For instance, you could use a load balancer to distribute traffic across multiple web or database servers. Through API automation, you could dynamically provision new servers and integrate them into the load balancer when demand increases. This approach allows you to scale horizontally to handle peak loads, then decommission servers when they’re no longer needed.

[00:24:53] [Host]
Can bare metal coexist with cloud-based applications?

[00:25:17] [Brooke]
Yes, bare metal can integrate with both our own cloud services and external ones like AWS or Azure. The same networking capabilities apply, so you can create a multi-cloud setup if needed. Just remember that bare metal server itself doesn’t have virtualization, so some of the features common to cloud solutions, like resizing, aren’t available.

[00:25:59] [Brooke]
How does bare metal improve security for sensitive data or compliance needs?

[00:26:14] [Brooke]
Bare metal offers enhanced security through isolated hardware. With dedicated hardware, you avoid potential risks associated with multi-tenant environments and shared hypervisors, which can be beneficial for certain compliance requirements. However, security always involves both the provider and the customer, so applications need to be managed securely on your end as well.

[00:27:00] [Host]
Are there best practices for migrating from on-premises to bare metal?

[00:27:15] [Brooke]
Yes, understanding and planning for your resource needs is key. Bare metal server doesn’t support resizing, so it’s important to choose an instance that meets your performance requirements up front. Also, consider using a combination of cloud VPS and bare metal cloud for different systems, as this can provide flexibility across your setup.

[00:28:07] [Host]
Can you tell us more about upcoming API features?

[00:28:23] [Brooke]
Certainly. Our goal is to bring the bare metal server API experience in line with what we offer for cloud VPS and bare metal cloud. This year, we’re focusing on core API capabilities for basic automation, but we’ll be expanding with features like custom cloud-init scripts for rapid deployment, allowing users to deploy pre-configured systems tailored to their needs. This will eventually support provisioning with custom templates, enabling an experience similar to that of VPS products but with the performance of bare metal.

[00:30:23] [Host]
Thanks, Brooke. I think that’s all the questions we have for now. If anyone has additional questions, feel free to reach out to us via the webinar email or our 24/7 support.

Thanks again for joining, and don’t forget to check out our limited-time offer on bare metal server hosting. We hope to see you at our next webinar, Navigating SEO’s Evolution in the AI Era. We’ll have four expert panelists joining us to discuss this topic, so I highly recommend checking it out.