Best practices for managing bare metal servers

Bare metal servers are a compelling solution when your business needs predictable high-performance computing. They’re dedicated servers with customized hardware resources exclusively for a single tenant — you.

That’s in contrast to a virtual hosting setup, where several virtual machines (VMs) exist on one physical machine and share its RAM, CPU, storage, bandwidth, and other computing resources. Plus, it has a virtualization layer, also called a hypervisor, which runs on resources that could have gone to your project.

With bare metal, you skip the overhead and the noisy neighbors. But what about the diligent management required to avoid performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and inefficient resource utilization? You shouldn’t ignore that, and we’ll explain why.

So, what does proper bare metal management entail? Keep reading for a full breakdown of what you need to know.

Table of contents

• Importance of effective bare metal management
• Best practices for managing bare metal servers
• Final thoughts: Best practices for bare metal management

Importance of effective bare metal management 

Before we get into how to manage bare metal servers, let’s look at why you’d care in the first place. In other words, what are the main benefits?

Enhanced performance

Effective management means your bare metal servers are properly configured and maintained to deliver the best possible performance for the applications you run.

Optimal resource utilization

Bare metal machines represent a significant investment for any business. Proper management of these servers maximizes the use of hardware resources and minimizes waste. The result is a higher return on investment.

Good data security and compliance

Data breaches can have devastating consequences for businesses, both financially and reputationally. In fact, a 2023 IBM study found that the average data breach costs the affected organization $4.45 million. 

Effective bare metal management includes implementing security measures to protect against cyber threats, such as data breaches. Your company’s data and clients’ data will be safe from hackers trying to use it for malicious purposes like fraud. 

Comprehensive security measures also help you comply with industry regulations and data protection laws, such as the GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. With effective management policies, you’ll never worry about non-compliance or the associated pricey fines and legal penalties.

High availability

Downtime is another costly pitfall for businesses; it leads to lost productivity and damages audience trust. Of course, lost revenue is a factor: In 2021, both Amazon and Facebook experienced downtimes that cost them $34 million and $100 million, respectively, in lost sales.

Good management practices, such as proactive monitoring of server health, will minimize downtime. When you ensure your systems are consistently operational for users, you’ll enjoy a competitive edge in the market by establishing your business as dependable.

To make bare metal as advantageous as possible for your business, follow along as we explain how to initiate these server management best practices.

1. Monitor performance and set up alerts

Set up monitoring systems to track metrics like memory utilization, CPU usage, and network traffic. This will reveal insights into your server’s health and identify areas for improvement. When you address potential issues as they arise, you can be sure your server is running at peak efficiency. 

At times, you may need to: 

• Update hardware components (like firmware).
• Adjust server settings and configurations.
• Fine-tune workload distribution and resource allocation.

Setting up alerts for critical events is also a key component of effective bare metal management. When your server administrators are promptly notified of issues such as high CPU usage or low disk space, they can swiftly intervene to prevent downtime, breaches, or performance degradation.

2. Configure security programs and settings

Secure your servers by implementing an array of measures such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection. Top hosting service providers, like Liquid Web, include these as standard in cloud dedicated server plans. This saves you the work of researching, buying, and configuring several tools.

Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Implement multi-factor authentication to add another layer of security.

If you have multiple user accounts on your server, regularly audit them to ensure that only authorized personnel have access. Furthermore, make sure the access granted is only to the extent these users need to carry out their duties. Minimize potential attack routes by disabling any services or ports you deem unnecessary.

Finally, stay up to date with cybersecurity trends to continually improve your safety protocols.

3. Stay current with OS and software patches

Operating system developers and software vendors regularly release patches to address security vulnerabilities, improve functionality, and enhance overall stability. Turn on notifications for all patches and install them promptly.

Before deploying updates to production servers, test them in a staging environment. The goal is to identify any compatibility issues or potential conflicts with existing software configurations. Catching a conflict and working around it will mitigate your risk of unexpected downtime and disruptions to critical services.

4. Embrace automation for monitoring and management

Automation is another fundamental component of effective bare metal management, offering numerous benefits like improved productivity, reduced human error, and streamlined operations. 

Plus, automation frees up valuable time for core business activities like product development and customer engagement.

You can implement automation in the following areas:

• Server monitoring: Use automated monitoring and alert tools like Prometheus and Zabbix to passively track key performance metrics. Importantly, set up alerts when pre-defined thresholds are met. Your administrators can then take corrective action as soon as possible.
• Configuration management: Tools like Puppet and Ansible will automate bare metal provisioning, configuration, and deployment. Beyond reducing manual admin work, you’ll enjoy more consistency across your server environments.
• Patch management: Atera and Automox automatically check for new patches, download them, and apply them to servers according to predefined schedules. This ensures your servers remain updated with the latest patches — without adding more to your to-do list.

If your business relies on scalability, consider an automated server provisioning tool.

5. Strategically build a maintenance routine

Routine maintenance activities, such as hardware checks and system upgrades, go a long way to increase the reliability and longevity of your server infrastructure. However, there’s an art to getting through these tasks efficiently without disrupting your productivity.

A good reminder is to schedule maintenance during periods of low business activity, whether that’s a specific day, month, or hour. This will minimize the potential financial impact on your business, especially if maintenance requires you to shut down the server temporarily. 

6. Implement backup and disaster recovery strategies

Data loss and data corruption are inescapable threats to every web business, whether due to hardware failures, human error, or cyberattacks.

Therefore, a crucial part of bare metal management is developing a backup strategy. This strategy should encompass scheduled backups of all essential data and configurations, ideally performed daily. 

Moreover, it should incorporate off-site data centers (or cloud-based solutions) to safeguard against location-based disasters. At Liquid Web, we include free nightly backups in all our hosting plans, so partnering your website or app with us means you’re automatically sorted on this front.

Besides backups, craft a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that clearly outlines the procedures for restoring operations in the event of a catastrophic event, such as a fire or flood. Define the roles and responsibilities of all your team members, complete with communication protocols.

It’s a good idea to conduct periodic safety drills to test the plan’s effectiveness, identify potential shortcomings, and build your team’s familiarity. 

Finally, pick an annual or biannual date to update your backup and recovery strategies. This way, you can accommodate any changes in server infrastructure, technology, and business requirements.

Final thoughts: Best practices for bare metal management

Bare metal servers are a great option if you’re looking for superior performance, optimal security, and maximum control. However, you won’t reach those ideals just by choosing a provider and provisioning a server. 

Effective management is necessary to harness a bare metal server’s full potential. Use the tips we’ve discussed here to guide you. 

Alternatively, get expert assistance. Liquid Web’s bare metal cloud servers offer multiple management levels to suit your specific business needs. You can go self-managed with check-ins once in a while — or go fully managed and kick your feet up.

With the fully managed option, we’ll handle server setup, administration, and ongoing management on your behalf, leaving you free to focus on more day to day matters like product improvement and customer engagement.

What’s more, our experts are available 24/7/365 to assist you with any technical challenges or inquiries. 

Liquid Web’s bare metal cloud services support both Windows and Linux, combining the dedicated resources and security of a physical server with the flexibility of cloud computing. Shop Liquid Web’s bare metal cloud plans, or contact us to learn more.

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