Bare Metal Hypervisors: Benefits and Use Cases

Introduction

A bare-metal hypervisor, also known as a Type 1 hypervisor, is a virtualization software installed directly on computing hardware, controlling both the hardware and one or more guest operating systems (guest OSes).

This technology has significantly contributed to the transformation of IT infrastructure through efficient resource utilization and scalability, as detailed in our article on the benefits of virtualization. By directly interacting with hardware, bare metal hypervisors enhance performance and security, making them a crucial tool for enterprise IT infrastructure.

In this article, you will learn about the benefits and use cases of bare metal hypervisors, comparing them to hosted hypervisors to highlight their importance.

What is a Bare Metal Hypervisor?

A bare metal hypervisor, also known as a Type 1 hypervisor, is virtualization software installed directly on a server’s physical hardware. Unlike a hosted hypervisor, it doesn’t require a separate operating system to function. Instead, it is the primary layer between the hardware and the virtual machines (VMs).

How Does a Bare Metal Hypervisor Work?

When installed, a bare metal hypervisor:

1. Boots directly from the server hardware.

2. Allocates system resources such as [CPU](https://www.digitalocean.com/resources/articles/cpu-vs-gpu), memory, and storage to virtual machines.

3. Manages the operation of each VM independently, ensuring isolation and security.

Key Features of Bare Metal Hypervisors

• Direct Hardware Access: Interacts directly with the physical hardware, bypassing an intermediary operating system.

• Efficient Resource Utilization: Allocates CPU, memory, and storage resources more efficiently.

• Enhanced Security: Minimizes the attack surface by eliminating a host operating system.

Examples of Bare Metal Hypervisors

• VMware ESXi: Known for enterprise-grade virtualization capabilities.

• Microsoft Hyper-V: Integrated with Windows Server, popular in hybrid cloud setups.

• Xen Project: Open-source hypervisor used in cloud platforms.

• KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine): Built into the Linux kernel, favored for open-source solutions.

Bare Metal Hypervisor(Type-1) vs. Hosted Hypervisor(Type-2)

Understanding the differences between bare metal and hosted hypervisors is crucial for choosing the right solution for your infrastructure.

Which One Should You Choose?

• Choose Bare Metal: For enterprise-grade workloads, cloud computing, and applications requiring high performance and security.

• Choose Hosted: For development, testing, or personal projects where simplicity is key.

Benefits of Bare Metal Hypervisors

Below are some of the benefits of bare metal hypervisors:

1. Superior Performance

Bare metal hypervisors deliver higher performance because they eliminate the overhead of a host operating system. Direct access to hardware resources ensures minimal latency, making them ideal for resource-intensive workloads such as:

1. High-performance computing.

2. Real-time data analytics.

3. Large-scale database management.

Additionally, these hypervisors support AI and machine learning workloads with optimized performance by directly leveraging advanced hardware features like GPU acceleration.

2. Enhanced Security

1. Isolation: Each VM operates in a separate environment, preventing unauthorized access between them.

2. Reduced Attack Surface: With no host operating system, the potential entry points for attacks are significantly reduced.

3. Compliance: Industries like healthcare and finance leverage bare-metal hypervisors for adhering to data protection regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR.

3. Scalability

Bare metal hypervisors are designed to support large-scale virtualization environments. Features like dynamic resource allocation and live migration enable enterprises to scale their infrastructure effortlessly.

4. High Availability and Reliability

Built-in features such as clustering, failover support, and snapshot capabilities ensure minimal downtime and data loss during maintenance or unexpected failures.

5. Centralized Management Tools

Modern bare metal hypervisors often come with robust management tools such as VMware vSphere and XenCenter. These tools simplify the provisioning, monitoring, and resource allocation of virtual machines, ensuring that IT teams can efficiently manage even complex infrastructure setups.

Use Cases of Bare Metal Hypervisors

Below are some of the most common use cases of bare metal hypervisors.

1. Enterprise Data Centers

Modern data centers rely on bare metal hypervisors to run thousands of VMs simultaneously. These VMs host diverse workloads, from web servers to machine learning models.

2. Cloud Computing Platforms

Bare metal hypervisors form the foundation of Infrastructure-as-a-Service platforms, enabling:

• Multi-tenant environments.

• Flexible resource allocation.

• On-demand scalability.

3. High-Performance Computing (HPC)

HPC environments require extreme performance for tasks like weather simulations, molecular modeling, and genomic research. Bare metal hypervisors meet these demands with minimal overhead.

4. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Enterprises use bare metal hypervisors to deploy VDI solutions, providing remote employees with secure and high-performance virtual desktops.

5. Secure Virtualization for Regulated Industries

Industries like finance, healthcare, and defense use bare metal hypervisors. These systems offer better security and help meet strict rules.

6. Hybrid Cloud Deployments

Many organizations leverage bare metal hypervisors as part of hybrid cloud strategies. These hypervisors allow seamless integration with public cloud services while maintaining control over critical on-premises workloads.

Technical Performance Differences between Type 1 vs Type 2 Hypervisors

The following table highlights the key performance differences between bare metal and hosted hypervisors:

Security Benefits of Bare Metal Hypervisors

The table below summarizes the key security benefits of bare metal hypervisors:

FAQs

1. What is the difference between bare metal and VM?

Bare metal refers to a physical server with no software layer between the hardware and the operating system.

A VM (Virtual Machine) runs on top of a hypervisor, which itself runs on underlying hardware (and possibly an operating system).

2. What are the disadvantages of bare metal hypervisors?

3. What is an example of bare metal virtualization?

A typical example is deploying a Type 1 hypervisor (such as VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V) directly on the physical server. These hypervisors run directly on the hardware. They provide virtual machines without needing a separate host operating system.

4. Can containers run on bare metal?

Yes, containers (e.g., Docker containers) can run on a bare metal server. In this setup, you first install an operating system on the hardware. Then, you add container runtime software on top of it.

The containers then share the host OS kernel instead of using their own virtual hardware. This approach often performs better than running containers inside a VM, due to fewer layers of abstraction.

5. What is the difference between bare metal and VPS?

• Bare metal: You have a dedicated physical server all to yourself. You control all the hardware resources and can install any OS or hypervisor directly on it.

• VPS (Virtual Private Server): Your environment is hosted on a virtual machine that shares physical resources with other VPS instances. Though it behaves like a dedicated server, the underlying hardware is shared, which can lead to contention for resources.

6. What are the main benefits of using a bare metal hypervisor?

1. High Performance: Direct access to hardware without the overhead of a host OS.
2. Strong Isolation: Each VM is isolated at the hardware level, reducing the attack surface.
3. Resource Control: You can precisely allocate CPU, memory, storage, and network resources.
4. Scalability: Adding or removing VMs can be more straightforward when the hypervisor directly controls physical resources.

7. How do bare metal hypervisors improve performance and security?

1. Performance: By running directly on the hardware, there is minimal overhead compared to Type 2 hypervisors. This low-latency access to CPU, memory, and storage leads to near-native performance levels for virtual machines.

2. Security: Each VM is isolated at the hypervisor level, reducing the risk of cross-VM attacks. Because there’s no extra host operating system to exploit, the attack surface is smaller. Security patches and updates focus specifically on the hypervisor firmware and management tools.

Conclusion

Bare Metal hypervisors have revolutionized enterprise IT infrastructure by delivering high performance, security, and scalability. By understanding the benefits and uses of bare metal hypervisors, organizations can make smart choices that improve their IT strategy, simplify operations, and advance their business. For instance, DigitalOcean’s Bare Metal GPUs offer dedicated bare metal machines for advanced AI workloads, providing powerful compute capabilities and customizable options designed for the most intense processing needs.