Why should you try RKE2 as your K8s distribution on bare metal

Many CTOs may have heard the same pitch: "Let's move everything to the pubic cloud, they have a bunch of Kubernetes solutions we can rely on to quickly build our architecture". 

It is indeed seductive advice, until your mission-critical application starts to scale and your costs spiral way beyond the original forecasts.

What if the path to optimal Kubernetes deployment isn't about following the crowd, but about partnering with the right infrastructure provider?

While the industry pushes toward abstraction and shared resources, smart organizations are discovering that RKE2 on bare metal dedicated servers offers something cloud platforms can't: absolute control, predictable performance, and security built on exclusive hardware access. 

So, let's take a deep dive into how that is possible.

Why Go With Kubernetes on Bare Metal

Performance Matters More Than Ever

Modern applications require consistent and predictable performance. When your bare metal provider eliminates the hypervisor layer inherent in virtualized environments, you're not just removing overhead. You're eliminating performance variability.

In virtualized environments, your applications still compete with unknown workloads for the server resources, including the hypervisor itself. With bare metal, your Kubernetes cluster owns the entire hardware stack, ensuring that performance-critical applications receive the necessary resources when they need them. 

This predictability becomes crucial for applications with strict SLA requirements or real-time processing needs.

Data Sovereignty Drives Infrastructure Decisions

For many organizations, the question isn't whether the cloud provides convenience. It's whether they can afford not to have complete control over their data.

Dedicated servers provide absolute certainty about data location, processing boundaries, and security perimeters. This isn't just about compliance; it's about maintaining strategic control over your organization's most valuable asset.

When you work with a bare metal provider that can guarantee exactly where your data resides and who has access to the physical infrastructure, you eliminate entire categories of risk related to multi-tenant cloud environments.

This level of control becomes essential for organizations in regulated industries or those handling sensitive intellectual property.

Why RKE2 Excels on Bare Metal

Security by Design, Not Afterthought

RKE2 was built with security as a foundational principle, not as an afterthought. 

Unlike many Kubernetes distributions that require extensive manual hardening, RKE2 is preconfigured to meet CIS Kubernetes Benchmark requirements out of the box. That’s critical because hardening Kubernetes manually is often complex, time-consuming, and error-prone.

Why does this matter on bare metal? On fully dedicated servers, you're responsible for the entire stack, from hardware to workloads. There’s no managed service between you and the infrastructure. 

With RKE2, built-in features such as SELinux support, FIPS-compliant cryptography, and a defense-in-depth architecture ensure that you're not starting on a security debt.

Instead, you're building on a platform that understands the inherent risks of cloud deployments and mitigates them at various levels, with all the security benefits of Rancher's latest Kubernetes distribution.

Operational Simplicity in Complex Environments

The irony of bare metal servers is that they can be simultaneously more complex and way simpler than cloud alternatives. And it all comes down to the provider you choose and how well their platform can host your architecture stack.

While some providers offer features that make your life easier in terms of setup and observability, others require your DevOps team to spend significant resources manually configuring your architecture and ensuring it runs properly.

RKE2 usually bridges this gap by providing enterprise-grade Kubernetes without the operational overhead typically associated with learning all the ins and outs of self-managed clusters from the public cloud, or manually replicating that experience on private servers.

Suppose the bare metal provider understands RKE2's systemd-based service management and single-binary approach, and ensures their platform has the necessary resources for complete compatibility. In that case, your Kubernetes distribution will be even easier to handle.

This means your existing infrastructure teams can manage RKE2 clusters using familiar tools and processes, reducing the learning curve and operational friction, while still getting all the functional benefits associated with bare metal servers.

The Economics of Control

Long-term Costs Favor Bare Metal

While cloud platforms offer compelling pay-as-you-go models, the economics shift dramatically for predictable, constant workloads. 

Bare metal deployments eliminate the "convenience tax" of cloud services while providing superior performance. But the real economic advantage lies in resource utilization: you're paying for 100% of the resources while being able to use them all.

This economic efficiency becomes more evident as workloads mature and stabilize. Organizations often find that the initial investment in bare metal infrastructure pays “dividends” over time, especially when factoring in the performance improvements and eliminated hypervisor licensing costs.

Avoiding Vendor Lock-in

Choosing RKE2 on bare metal represents a hedge against vendor lock-in, not just from cloud providers, but from proprietary Kubernetes distributions. 

As a CNCF-certified distribution, RKE2 ensures portability while providing the operational benefits of a curated, security-focused platform.

This flexibility becomes crucial during infrastructure transitions or when negotiating with cloud providers. You're not locked into a specific vendor's ecosystem; you're building on standards that can adapt to changing business requirements.

RKE2 on Bare Metal With Latitude.sh

Choosing RKE2 for Kubernetes on bare metal isn't just about technology: it's about aligning infrastructure decisions with business strategy, and prioritizing long-term value over short-term tactical advantages.

The question isn't whether cloud or bare metal is "better" in abstract terms. The question is which approach better serves your organization's specific needs, risk tolerance, and strategic objectives? 

With Latitude.sh, the choice between cloud convenience and bare metal performance becomes a false dichotomy. You get the dedicated resources, predictable performance, and security control of bare metal infrastructure, delivered with the speed and user experience of modern cloud platforms.

For organizations ready to move beyond the limitations of shared cloud infrastructure, Latitude.sh provides the foundation to realize the full potential of RKE2 on bare metal, without the traditional complexity, time investment, or geographic constraints that have historically limited the adoption of bare metal.

And if you want to start today with RKE2 on bare metal, you can follow our guide to help you get started.

Create your Latitude.sh account for free and check out how easy your bare metal experience can be.