There is a middle ground. There are smaller companies where you can rent a bare metal server, usually with unmetered connection (priced by bandwidth). There is

There is a middle ground. There are smaller companies where you can rent a bare metal server, usually with unmetered connection (priced by bandwidth). There is an on-call support 24x7 to replace any failing part when you call them. They can build custom servers and also give long term or bulk discounts. I have a good experience with [1] (a smaller local company) and Hetzner [2], a bigger provider. Compare the prices with cloud. Especially if you need something RAM intensive. [1]: https://www.superhosting.net/dedicated-servers https://www.superhosting.net/dedicated-servers [2]: https://www.hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver https://www.hetzner.com/dedicated-rootserver