Bare Metal on Novita AI: Why Direct Hardware Access Matters for AI

Novita AI is an AI cloud platform designed to empower developers with affordable and high-performance bare metal GPU servers. By offering direct hardware access and a simple deployment process, Novita AI ensures seamless scaling for AI/ML workloads, LLM training, and inference tasks.

What Is Bare Metal?

Bare metal refers to physical, dedicated servers that are not virtualized or shared with other users. Unlike cloud VMs or GPU APIs that run layers of abstraction, bare metal gives you direct access to the hardware—no hypervisors, no noisy neighbors, and no surprises. Bare metal servers can be equipped with high-end GPUs (like NVIDIA B200 or H100), optimized CPUs, fast NVMe storage, and even specialized interconnects like NVLink or InfiniBand for multi-GPU setups.

Think of it like renting the whole car instead of just paying for a ride. You control the speed, the route, and the fuel—you’re in the driver’s seat.

Why Choose Bare Metal Over API or Cloud GPU?

1. Maximum Performance

• No virtualization overhead: You get every clock cycle the hardware can deliver.
• Full GPU access: Ideal for fine-tuning models, running long jobs, or deploying latency-sensitive inference.
• Multi-GPU scaling: With NVLink or InfiniBand, inter-GPU communication is drastically faster than in virtualized cloud setups.

2. Greater Control and Security

• Full control over the environment: install custom drivers, OS images, and libraries.
• No risk of API deprecation or cloud-side quota limits.
• Air-gapped or on-premise options for sensitive data handling.

3. Cost Predictability and Efficiency

• Hourly API pricing adds up fast—especially for long-term or high-throughput jobs.
• Bare metal lets you optimize workloads at the system level, cutting inefficiencies.
• Flat pricing and reserved capacity prevent surprise billing spikes.

4. Ideal for Production Deployment

• No API request limits or throttling.
• Higher reliability and better performance tuning for real-world use cases.
• Supports on-demand scaling or hybrid edge deployments.

Criteria for Choosing a Good Bare Metal Setup

1. GPU Generation

Choose GPUs that match your workload:

• H100 – Ideal for training large language models and handling complex multi-modal workloads with high efficiency.
• B200 – NVIDIA’s next-gen powerhouse, designed for extreme AI performance across both training and inference at scale.

2. Multi-GPU Support

• Look for NVLink or InfiniBand for low-latency, high-bandwidth interconnect.
• Crucial for training large models or using model parallelism.

3. Networking Capabilities

• Prefer providers offering 25Gbps+ bandwidth or dedicated switches.
• Low-latency networking is key for distributed training and orchestration.

4. Storage Type

• Go for NVMe SSDs over SATA for faster data loading.
• Consider high IOPS for preprocessing-heavy workflows.

5. CPU and RAM

• Match CPU core count and RAM size to your data loading or preprocessing bottlenecks.
• High core-count CPUs help avoid GPU starvation.

6. Provider Reliability and Support

• 24/7 support with rapid ticket response is essential for production use.
• Look for providers offering custom OS images, remote access (IPMI), and usage dashboards.

Bare Metal VS Dedicted Server and Virtual Server

Feature	Bare Metal Server	Dedicated Server	Virtual Server (VPS)
Performance	🔥 Maximum	⚡ High	⚙️ Moderate
Isolation	✅ Full	✅ Full	❌ Shared
Scalability	🔄 Limited (manual)	🔄 Moderate	🚀 High (on demand)
Customization	🛠️ Full	⚙️ Moderate	🔧 Limited
Deployment Time	🕒 Longer (manual setup)	⏱️ Moderate	⚡ Instant
Use Case	AI/ML, HPC, FinTech	Web, App Servers	Dev/Test, Light Apps
Cost	💰 Highest	💸 Mid	🪙 Low
Management Effort	🧠 High (self-managed)	🧩 Moderate	🎛️ Low (provider-managed)

When Should You Choose Each Option?

Choose Bare Metal If:

• You need maximum GPU performance for training large AI models.
• Your workload requires full OS and driver-level control.
• You want zero interference from neighbors (noisy neighbor problem).

Choose Dedicated Servers If:

• You want performance + managed services.
• You’re hosting websites, databases, or mid-scale applications.
• You prefer lower hardware control but more convenience.

Choose Virtual Servers (VPS) If:

• You want quick deployment at a low cost.
• You’re working on development, staging, or small-scale apps.
• You don’t need dedicated resources or GPU access.

How to Use Bare Metal in a Cost-effective Way?

Novita AI is an AI cloud platform that offers developers an easy way to deploy AI models using our simple API, while also providing a affordable and reliable GPU cloud for building and scaling.

Step 1: Log In and Access the GPU Bare Metal

Log in to your account and click on the GPU Bare Metal button.

Step 2: Chooose Your GPU

Select the Device

• Device Name: Choose H100 SXM or B200 SXM.
• Region: United States of America.
• Configuration (for H100 SXM):
  • 8 GPUs
  • 2048 GB Memory
  • 104vCPU/Node
  • 15.36 TB Storage
  • at $1.7./hour.
• Configuration (for B200 SXM):
  • 8 GPUs
  • 2304 GB Memory
  • 144vCPU/Node
  • 30.8 TB Storage
  • at $4.77./hour.

Set the Quantity and Rental Duration

• Adjust the GPU Quantity field to match your needs. For example, select 8 GPUs.

• Choose the rental duration. For instance, set it to 1 month.

For developers seeking cost-effective and powerful GPU solutions, Novita AI is the ideal partner. With cutting-edge GPUs like H100 SXM, predictable pricing, and an intuitive platform, Novita AI simplifies the process of building and scaling AI models. Start your journey with Novita AI today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Novita AI is an AI cloud platform that offers developers an easy way to deploy AI models using our simple API, while also providing the affordable and reliable GPU cloud for building and scaling.

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