Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about migrating from cloud to bare metal
Cost & Complexity Concerns
Isn't bare metal more expensive upfront?
While there are upfront hardware costs, our success-based pricing model means you don't pay anything upfront. We handle the initial investment and get paid only from your savings. Most clients recover any upfront costs within 6-12 months through operational savings.
How complex is the migration process?
We've designed our process to be as simple as possible. You don't need to hire additional staff or become infrastructure experts. We handle the complexity while your team focuses on your business. Our parallel deployment approach means zero downtime and minimal risk.
What about hidden costs?
There are no hidden costs. Our pricing includes everything: assessment, planning, migration, testing, and 30 days of support. Ongoing operational costs (power, cooling, bandwidth) are typically 60-70% less than equivalent cloud spending.
How accurate are the savings projections?
Our projections are based on proven industry patterns and our deep expertise in infrastructure optimization. We guarantee a minimum 30% cost reduction or your money back. Most companies can achieve 40-60% savings depending on their cloud waste levels.
Scalability Questions
Can bare metal scale like the cloud?
Yes, but differently. While you can't instantly spin up 1000 servers, most companies don't actually need that. We help you build in appropriate capacity headroom (typically 30-50%) and implement smart scaling strategies. For true burst capacity, we can design hybrid solutions.
What if we have seasonal traffic spikes?
We design your infrastructure to handle peak loads efficiently. Options include: over-provisioning for peaks (still cheaper than cloud), hybrid cloud bursting for extreme spikes, or CDN/edge computing for geographic distribution. Most clients find they need less "elasticity" than they thought.
How long does it take to add capacity?
Adding servers to existing infrastructure typically takes 1-2 weeks. We help you forecast growth and plan ahead. Compare this to constantly paying for unused cloud capacity "just in case" - planned growth is much more cost-effective.
Reliability Concerns
Is bare metal as reliable as AWS/Azure/GCP?
When properly configured, bare metal can be MORE reliable. You control your destiny - no regional outages affecting thousands of companies, no "noisy neighbors" impacting performance, no surprise service deprecations. We design redundancy and failover into your architecture.
What about disaster recovery?
We implement comprehensive DR strategies including: geographically distributed backups, automated failover systems, and regular DR testing. Many clients use a hybrid approach with cloud as a DR site, getting the best of both worlds.
Who handles hardware failures?
Depends on your preference. With colocation, the facility handles hardware. With on-premise, we can provide managed services or train your team. Modern hardware is incredibly reliable - enterprise servers often run 5+ years without issues.
Team & Expertise Requirements
Do we need to hire infrastructure experts?
No! This is a common misconception. Your existing team can handle bare metal with proper tooling and documentation. We provide training, runbooks, and optional ongoing support. Most tasks are automated - it's not the manual process of decades ago.
What skills does our team need?
The same skills they use today. We implement familiar tools and abstractions. Your developers still deploy the same way, your ops team uses similar monitoring tools. The underlying infrastructure is different, but the day-to-day experience remains familiar.
How much training is required?
Typically 2-3 days of hands-on training covers everything your team needs. We provide comprehensive documentation and remain available for questions. Most teams find bare metal operations simpler than managing complex cloud services and permissions.
Risk Mitigation
What if the migration fails?
Our parallel deployment approach means your cloud infrastructure remains untouched until you're 100% confident. You can roll back instantly at any point. In hundreds of migrations, we've never had a client need to roll back after careful testing.
How do you ensure zero downtime?
We run both environments in parallel, synchronize data in real-time, and gradually shift traffic. Each step is validated before proceeding. The final cutover typically takes minutes and can be reversed instantly if needed.
What about compliance and security?
Bare metal often provides better security and compliance. You have complete control over your data, no multi-tenancy risks, and can implement any security measures required. We help ensure your setup meets all regulatory requirements.
Can we migrate back to cloud if needed?
Yes, though we've never had a client want to. The tools and practices we implement work in any environment. Your applications remain portable. Some clients maintain a small cloud presence for specific use cases.
Technical Questions
Which workloads are best for bare metal?
Predictable workloads with consistent resource usage are ideal: databases, web applications, API services, analytics platforms. Even "unpredictable" workloads often have predictable baselines. We help identify which workloads to migrate first for maximum savings.
What about managed services (RDS, Lambda, etc.)?
We help you replace managed services with open-source equivalents: RDS → PostgreSQL/MySQL with automated backups, Lambda → Kubernetes Jobs or OpenFaaS, S3 → MinIO. You get the same functionality without the premium pricing.
How do you handle multi-region deployments?
We design geographic distribution strategies using colocation facilities in multiple regions. This often provides better performance than cloud regions. For true global presence, we can implement hybrid solutions combining bare metal and CDN/edge services.
Still Have Questions?
We're here to help. Get a free consultation to discuss your specific concerns.