Exploring the real cost benefits of moving away from cloud to dedicated servers

When it comes to hosting and managing servers, many companies jump straight to cloud solutions like AWS for convenience and scalability. But sometimes, moving from AWS to bare-metal servers can be a smarter, more cost-effective move. Our experience saving $230,000 a year by making this switch taught us a lot about the value of dedicated hardware and sparked a closer look at true infrastructure costs.

Why Moving from AWS Made Sense for Us

We started out using AWS to host our infrastructure because it promised flexibility, scalability, and a pay-as-you-go model. It worked well at first, especially with the ease of spinning up instances through the console. However, as our usage grew, so did the monthly bill – often unpredictably.

After diving into the numbers, it became obvious that moving from AWS to bare-metal servers could save us a significant amount. We weren’t losing out on performance, and in some cases, dedicated hardware even offered better latency and reliability.

The Cost Breakdown: Cloud vs Bare Metal

One of the biggest reasons for moving from AWS was financial. AWS’s pricing includes not just the raw computing resources, but also charges for data transfer, storage IOPS, network latency, and more. These hidden fees quickly add up, especially for companies with predictable workloads.

By shifting to bare-metal servers, we could pay a flat fee for dedicated machines that handled our workloads without surprise charges. The upfront investment was higher, but the monthly savings accumulated fast, amounting to about $230,000 per year for us.

What We Learned About Infrastructure Costs

Moving from cloud to bare-metal isn’t just about cost savings. It’s about understanding what your company really needs. Cloud pricing models can be complex, and without careful monitoring, costs balloon quickly. Bare-metal hosting offers the simplicity of fixed pricing and often better control over hardware and network configurations.

Of course, there’s more management overhead with bare-metal servers; you need to handle updates, maintenance, and hardware replacements yourself. But for us, the trade-off was worth it.

Is Moving from AWS Right for You?

If you have workloads with steady resource demands and want to avoid fluctuating cloud bills, moving from AWS could be beneficial. Start by analyzing your current usage and costs using AWS’s built-in tools like AWS Cost Explorer. Also, compare options from providers offering bare-metal solutions, such as Equinix Metal or OVHcloud.

Keep in mind that for startups or highly variable usage, cloud might still be the better choice for flexibility. But if your usage has stabilized and predictable costs matter, bare-metal deserves consideration.

Resources to Explore

• AWS Cost Explorer: https://aws.amazon.com/aws-cost-management/aws-cost-explorer/
• Equinix Metal (bare-metal cloud): https://metal.equinix.com/
• OVHcloud Dedicated Servers: https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/dedicated-servers/

Switching from cloud to bare-metal hosting isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, but for us, moving from AWS was a clear win. It saved money, gave us more control, and simplified costs — something every growing company should consider in their infrastructure planning.