> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gcore.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bare Metal Kubernetes

With Managed Kubernetes, worker nodes in a Kubernetes cluster deploy directly on Bare Metal servers. This setup lets workloads use dedicated hardware resources while keeping Kubernetes orchestration.

## Architecture

Applications often run on Virtual Machines (VMs) with Kubernetes and containers layered on top. This setup involves multiple layers: VMs, hypervisors, and operating systems. Kubernetes on Bare Metal removes the virtualization layer. Containers run directly on the host server operating system (OS), so they have direct access to the underlying hardware.

## Advantages

* **Improved performance**. Bare Metal support uses the full hardware capacity because it eliminates the virtualization layer.
* **Enhanced security and isolation**. Bare Metal runs applications in a completely isolated environment without shared resources or noisy neighbors.
* **Higher network performance**. Applications on Bare Metal servers can handle higher traffic because nodes have dedicated access to the network card and can use the full network card bandwidth.
* **Faster disk response time**. Bare Metal gives applications direct access to underlying hardware, including disks, which reduces latency because no additional layers sit between the workload and storage.
* **Direct internet access**. A public interface can be assigned to Bare Metal servers, enabling direct internet access without intermediary layers and reducing latency to end users.

## Available configurations

Gcore offers Bare Metal flavor categories for Kubernetes worker node pools:

* **High frequency**. Single-socket servers with AMD 7950x and 9950x processors, suitable for applications that require high processor frequency.
* **Infrastructure**. Multi-core, multi-socket configurations designed for applications that require a high number of cores and are optimized for multithreading.
* **Storage**. Configurations optimized for storage-intensive workloads.

## Create a Bare Metal Kubernetes cluster

In the [Gcore Customer Portal](https://portal.gcore.com), navigate to **Cloud** > **Managed Kubernetes** and click **Create Cluster**. On the [cluster form](/cloud/kubernetes/clusters/create-a-kubernetes-cluster), open the **Pools** section and select **Bare metal instances** under **Type**. The portal also offers **GPU Bare metal instances** for GPU-accelerated workloads.

<Info>
  Bare metal worker nodes may be deleted and recreated when Kubernetes reschedules pods, because Managed Kubernetes treats nodes as stateless infrastructure. To protect critical data, use a Gcore storage service such as Managed PostgreSQL, NFS, S3, or File Shares.
</Info>