Ever since virtualization gained popularity, the discussions around it have been heated. While some users of the technology are happy with their current setup and don’t see any benefit in switching to something else, others are looking for alternatives that can bring them more efficiency and performance. If you’re one of these people who is considering disinvestment from virtual machines and going bare metal instead – this article is for you. Read on to find out why users think VM is becoming a burden rather than an investment for their businesses.
VM is slower than bare metal
Virtualization technology has been around for decades now. Since its invention, it has been helping people to reduce their operational costs and to improve resource utilization. However, one of the biggest stereotypes that people have about virtualization is that it’s slower than bare metal. However, it’s not entirely accurate. The problem is that people don’t understand the way virtualization works and they assume that it’s slower than running on a dedicated server. Unfortunately, they are right in some cases. If you’re using virtualization incorrectly, you’ll experience slower performance and reduced efficiency. The thing is that virtualization enables businesses to reduce the number of servers they have, increasing their operational costs and making it harder to scale. When you have fewer servers, you don’t have to spend as much money on cooling, maintenance or repairs. However, you lose some of the speed advantages of bare metal because you have to share resources between multiple servers. Where does the misconception that virtualization is slower than bare metal come from?
VM setup is complex and time-consuming
One of the biggest downsides of using virtual machines is the fact that they are complex and time-consuming to setup. It takes a long time to go through the process of creating a VM and configuring it to match your business’s needs. Depending on how many resources you want to allocate to your VM and which OS you plan to install on it, the setup process can take up to several hours. Although this is not a problem if you plan to set up a single VM, it becomes a big one if you need to set up multiple VMs at once. In this case, the setup process will definitely slow down your team’s productivity. Where does the problem lie?
VM doesn’t offer full control of the hosting environment
Another issue with virtual machines is that you don’t have full control of the hosting environment. In this case, the provider you’re renting your hardware from is the one who is fully responsible for the maintenance, repairs and other hardware-related problems. Although you are responsible for the OS and configuration of your VM, the provider has to troubleshoot and repair hardware-related issues. If your provider doesn’t have the right expertise to deal with your hardware issues, they will either ask you to schedule maintenance when your VM will be offline or simply shut down the VM and reboot. While the first option will delay your team’s work and irritate your customers, the second one will disrupt your workflow and slow down your tasks, especially if you’re working on a deadline.
VM is not cost-effective for businesses that have high operational costs
If you use virtual machines for your business, you have to pay for their hosting. This means that you must have the necessary budget to cover the operational costs of your servers. However, the price of your servers will decrease as your business grows and you need more servers. You can benefit from the economies of scale by simultaneously increasing the number of servers you need and decreasing the price of each server. However, this only happens in theory. In practice, you will end up spending more money on your servers over time. This is because every time a hardware issue will arise, you will have to schedule maintenance, which will usually require a reboot of your VM. When your VM is down, your customers will be unable to use your products or services. This will cause them to lose time and money, which will force you to compensate them. This is why you will want to invest in hardware that doesn’t require much maintenance and doesn’t need to be rebooted. This way, you will reduce the risk of disrupting your workflow and your customers’ activities. However, this will increase your investment because you will have to buy more hardware than you expected.
Final Words: Which One to Choose?
Virtual machines are becoming less popular among businesses because they are slower, less efficient, and more complex than bare metal. However, this doesn’t mean that businesses should completely abandon virtualization. There are ways to make virtual machines perform better and be more efficient. Unfortunately, this requires you to upgrade your hardware, which can be expensive. If you don’t have the budget to upgrade your hardware and you’re experiencing issues with virtualization, you can try optimizing your current setup. Bare metal offers better performance because it doesn’t have to share resources with other systems. It also doesn’t require a long setup process and it doesn’t need to be rebooted when it’s offline. There are some downsides to using bare metal, though. It’s more expensive than hosting VMs, it requires more upfront investment and it doesn’t allow scaling.
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