StackBlaze vs Bare Metal
A dedicated server gives you a chassis and a remote console. StackBlaze runs on the same class of metal, then adds Kubernetes, Git deploys, managed databases, and someone else on call for the hosts.
StackBlaze
git push origin main
- Bare-metal nodes, managed for you
- Kubernetes, TLS, backups
- Dedicated from $300/mo
Bare metal
ipmitool chassis power reset
mdadm --assemble --scan
kubeadm init --control-plane
- You own firmware and RAID
- You install the cluster
- You get paged for hardware
Same metal. We run the platform.
Why StackBlaze
Databases run by Kubernetes operators, not containers on a volume
StackBlaze is built on Kubernetes, and every database add-on is managed by a battle-tested operator: CloudNativePG for Postgres, the MariaDB operator for MySQL, Strimzi for Kafka. You get the deployment, backup, and failover automation platform teams build in-house, without ever touching kubectl.
Scheduled backups, your retention
Postgres, MariaDB, and Valkey add-ons back up to object storage on a schedule you set, with a retention policy (7d, 4w, 3m) enforced by the operator.
Point-in-time recovery
Postgres archives WAL continuously; MariaDB takes physical backups. Restore to a timestamp as a new instance while the original keeps serving traffic.
HA with automatic failover
Scale a database to a replicated cluster and the operator handles failover. MariaDB promotion even rebinds ProxySQL so apps reconnect to the new primary.
Next to your app, privately
Every database runs on the same private network as your services, reachable over cluster DNS. No public endpoints, no cross-vendor egress fees.
Renting Equinix Metal, a Hetzner dedicated, or a colo cage is not the same as running a platform. You still install the OS, the cluster, the ingress, the certificates, and the backup jobs. StackBlaze already sits on bare-metal fleets. You ship the app.
Postgres (CloudNativePG) · MySQL / MariaDB · Valkey (Redis) · MongoDB-compatible · Kafka (Strimzi) · RabbitMQ · ClickHouse · OpenSearch · CockroachDB · Cassandra · ScyllaDB · Milvus · Weaviate · S3-compatible storage
What lives where
One project vs a rack and a runbook
- Compute
- Containers on managed Kubernetes
- You image the server
- Network
- TLS, DNS, private phases
- Switches, BGP, firewalls
- Data
- Operator-run Postgres and Redis
- You install and back it up
- Hardware
- We replace failed nodes
- IPMI, RMA, spare disks
Not a VPS argument
Bare metal is a louder version of DIY
A droplet still hides the hardware. A dedicated box adds firmware, RAID, IPMI, and waiting on a remote hands ticket. If you already decided against a VPS because of the ops load, bare metal does not shrink that load. It grows it.
1
Provision the chassis
2
Build Kubernetes yourself
3
Stay on call for disks
Bare metal (typical)
$80–400+/mo
Plus the engineer hours for Kubernetes, backups, and the next failed SSD. Cheap metal is rarely a cheap platform.
StackBlaze
$5, or $300 dedicated
Starter is $5/mo with $5 of usage credit. Dedicated from $300 if you want isolation on the same operators, not a second job as a hardware team.
Bare metal
You pick the SKU, image the OS, and own every layer above the floor. Performance can be excellent. So can the pager. The box is the starting point, not the product.
StackBlaze
Same class of hardware under the apps: Kubernetes, Git deploys, managed add-ons, and backups. Dedicated plans exist when you want isolation without buying a rack.
Feature comparison
You want bare-metal performance without a platform team
You want the metal, not the night shift
StackBlaze already runs on bare-metal nodes. You get dedicated CPUs and NVMe without assembling RAID, firmware, or a control plane.
Git push instead of kubeadm
Deploys, TLS, private networking, and rollbacks are the product. You should not need a cluster bootstrap weekend to ship a worker.
Databases with operators
Postgres, Redis, and backups are managed next to your apps. On a rented box you are the DBA, the storage admin, and the person who tests restores.
Preview environments
Pro spins a full stack per pull request. Recreating that on dedicated servers means a second cluster you will not keep current.
Capacity without purchase orders
Scale replicas on the cluster you already have. Bare metal scaling is another chassis, another switch port, and another week.
Dedicated when you need it
Want isolation without becoming a hardware team? Dedicated starts at $300/mo on the same Kubernetes operators as Starter.
Owning the machine is the requirement
You must own the chassis
Some contracts require your name on the rack, custom NIC firmware, or a kernel module we will not load. That is still a job for a dedicated box.
You already have an ops team
If platform engineering is a staffed function and utilization is high, buying metal and running Kubernetes yourselves can be cheaper at scale.
Exotic hardware passthrough
Specialized FPGA, GPU, or storage fabrics that need raw PCI access are easier when you pick the exact SKU and image the machine yourself.
Already on a dedicated box? Bring the apps over.
Keep the metal for experiments if you want. Move production apps, workers, and databases onto StackBlaze so deploys and restores are not SSH sessions.
Inventory what the box actually runs
List web processes, workers, cron, and every datastore. Those become StackBlaze apps and add-ons.
Deploy from Git
Connect the repo, add a Dockerfile or buildpack, and get a URL with TLS. No kubeadm, no ingress YAML.
git push origin main
# StackBlaze builds, deploys, and issues a cert
Move data with a planned cutover
Provision managed Postgres or Redis, replicate or dump/restore, then flip DATABASE_URL.
Retire the chassis when traffic is gone
Point DNS at StackBlaze, watch error rates, then cancel the dedicated server. Roll back is another DNS change.
Ready to leave the chassis behind?
Starter is $5/mo with $5 of usage credit. Dedicated from $300 if you want isolation on the same operators.