**The best way to make your service public to the world that you have created —
Bare Metal servers as spoken by DHH and Kamal, and the philosophy of 'No Build'**
When learning Rails, there comes a moment where you inevitably think:
"Now I want to actually upload the service I created to the internet."
At that time, most people think like this:
"Should I use AWS?"
"I heard GCP is good"
"Build with Docker, create CI, Kubernetes...?"
And then they are immediately overwhelmed.
"Deploying is harder than developing, isn't it...?"
The current cloud era has become an era that forces developers to excessive complexity. This is not technological advancement, but the result of unnecessary abstraction and increased costs.
That's why DHH (Basecamp·Rails creator) has started shouting again.
"Leave the cloud.
Get rid of one server.
And deploy with Kamal."
This argument is not a simple insistence. Real cost savings, reduced difficulty, maximization of speed, and restoration of developers' dignity are at its core.
Now let's explain one by one.
1. What is a Bare Metal server?
Cloud services like AWS, GCP are essentially borrowing someone else's computer for a while.
Expensive fees
Complex configurations
Leakage of fees here and there
Difficult to resolve when problems occur
Eventually becomes a structure where you pay 'cloud tax' every month
On the other hand, Bare Metal servers:
A method of directly using my own real computer (server) placed in an IDC data center.
The advantages are clear.
Incredibly cost-effective
Cloud costs 1 million won per month →
Equivalent spec Bare Metal server costs 150,000 to 200,000 won per month
And that server is mine.
No billing surprises.
More powerful performance
Instead of sharing a server with half-filled water,
I use CPU, SSD, RAM 100% by myself.
Since IO performance and single-thread performance are particularly important for Rails apps,
they are much faster on Bare Metal.
Less prone to failures
AWS experiences large-scale failures every year.
But Bare Metal is just a "computer," so
there are no failures caused by complex network abstractions.
2. Kamal — Rails-style deployment tool that makes deployment a 'one-line command'
The latest deployment tool directly created by DHH is Kamal.
Kamal follows the philosophy of Rails.
Dislikes complexity
Likes automation
Should be intuitive
What Kamal does is simple.
Upload your Rails app as a Docker container to the server you have
Restart it, manage logs
All done automatically.
Deployment ends like this:
bin/kamal deploy
By using Kamal,
a single developer can experience a professional infrastructure environment like a company with separate deployment servers.
Summary of why Kamal is great
No need for heavy and complex CI/CD
Deployment possible without GitHub Actions
No need to know Kubernetes
Automatic SSL issuance
Automatic Docker management
Automated server updates
zero-downtime deployment
It is the ultimate simplicity that Rails developers dream of.
3. No Build — "No need for a complex build pipeline"
The current development environment has become strange.
Frontend uses Webpack
Backend uses CI/CD
Docker Multi-stage Build
Terraform
Kubernetes
Cloud Load Balancer
As a result, beginners end up like this:
"I don't even have a service yet,
but it takes 3 weeks just to set up the infrastructure..."
Is this normal?
DHH says.
"Get rid of the build pipeline."
"Minimal steps are sufficient."
"Eliminate all intermediate steps between development → deployment → operation."
Kamal implements this philosophy.
No additional build servers.
No need for a CI pipeline.
Just one Dockerfile is enough.
"Write code → Create Docker image → Upload to server → Done."
This simplicity
gives entrepreneurs decisive speed.
4. Why not using the cloud is better? (Real reasons)
This is not an emotional argument,
but a real change happening around the world.
Cloud erodes startup costs
100,000 to 200,000 won per month,
if the service grows a bit, it exceeds 1 million won.
But with Bare Metal servers,
it ends at 150,000 to 300,000 won per month.
Cloud slows down development speed due to complexity
There are too many components in AWS.
VPC
Subnet
Security Group
IAM
ALB
ASG
ECS/EKS
NAT Gateway...
It takes over 6 months to learn and understand all of this.
During that time,
a Rails developer can create and launch 3 MVPs.
Cloud offers no way to avoid failures
AWS-wide outage =
All customers explode in dissatisfaction.
With my server, I can see the problem and fix it immediately.
Rails performs best in the combination of Bare Metal + Kamal
Rails pursues the development experience of deploying services in an instant.
Kamal perfectly aligns with this.
5. The path to becoming a unicorn with minimal personnel?
→ Rails + AI + Bare Metal + Kamal
This combination is honestly too powerful.
Rails → Top speed in development
AI → Automation of repetitive tasks
Bare Metal → Cost savings + high performance
Kamal → Zero deployment stress
When combined?
Achieve the productivity of a 10-person team as a single person.
Two people can replace a 50-person team.
Revenue structure becomes lighter,
Product launch speed maximizes,
Market feedback loop accelerates,
Possibility of becoming a unicorn increases.
In reality, Basecamp, HEY, Shopify in the early days, GitHub in the early days
all grew with "few personnel + Rails + simple infrastructure."
In the AI era, this strategy is becoming even more powerful.
Conclusion — If you want to make your service public on the internet, go for 'your own server' instead of the cloud.
Bare Metal is cheap, fast, and simple.
Kamal is simple and powerful.
Rails is overwhelmingly productive.
AI expands your team size by 10 times.
This combination
provides speeds and cost structures that were previously unimaginable
even for novice developers,
solo entrepreneurs,
and small teams.
That's why we can say this.
"The unicorns of the future are born
with the Rails + AI + Bare Metal + Kamal approach."
And that unicorn
could be your service.
