5 signs you can't wait until 2026 for your Equinix Metal migration

Equinix Metal will shut down in June 2026, but many organizations are delaying plans to migrate their bare metal workloads.

While that deadline might seem distant, Latitude.sh's experience with complex infrastructure transitions tells a different story.

(CONTACT US to get your Equinix Metal migration checklist)

Not all migrations are created equal — some Equinix Metal customers might face significantly higher risks and complexity, meaning they need to start planning much sooner.

In this article, we’ll explore five critical warning signs that your dedicated server migration needs to move up your priority list—well before the 2026 deadline.

#1: Your Infrastructure Spans Multiple Regions

The Challenge: Multi-region deployments dramatically increase migration complexity.

If your Metal footprint extends across several Equinix regions, you're facing a migration with exponentially greater coordination challenges. Multi-region setups typically involve:

• Region-specific configurations and optimizations

• Complex networking and inter-region dependencies

• Location-specific compliance and sovereignty requirements

• Varying hardware specifications and availability

Why Start Now: Each additional region can add 2-3 months to your migration timeline. Companies with 3+ regions often need 15+ months for a well-executed migration.

#2: You Run Custom or Specialized Workloads

The Challenge: Non-standard workloads require extensive testing and validation.

Metal's appeal has always been its flexibility for specialized workloads. If your deployment includes any of these elements, your migration complexity increases significantly:

• Custom kernel modifications

• Specialized hardware configurations

• GPU-intensive workloads

• Bare metal-specific optimizations

• Legacy applications with hardware dependencies

Why Start Now: Custom workloads often require multiple rounds of testing, benchmarking, and optimization. Starting earlier gives you time to identify suitable hardware configurations and resolve compatibility issues.

#3: You Have Strict Performance Requirements

The Challenge: Performance-sensitive workloads demand extensive benchmarking and tuning.

If your applications have specific performance requirements, simply moving to new infrastructure won't be enough. You'll need to:

• Establish detailed performance baselines

• Test various hardware configurations

• Optimize application settings for new environments

• Validate performance under various load conditions

• Fine-tune network configurations

Why Start Now: Performance optimization is iterative and time-consuming. The testing alone can take 3-4 months, with optimization requiring additional cycles.

#4: You Operate in Regulated Industries

The Challenge: Compliance requirements add significant overhead to migrations.

If you're subject to regulatory requirements (financial services, healthcare, government), your migration involves additional layers of complexity:

• Comprehensive documentation requirements

• Security control validation and testing

• Compliance certification of new environments

• Risk assessment and mitigation planning

• Formal change management processes

Why Start Now: Compliance documentation and validation typically adds 3-4 months to migration timelines. Starting earlier ensures you have time for proper security assessment and certification.

#5: Your Applications Generate Revenue

The Challenge: Business-critical workloads require zero-downtime migrations.

If your Metal infrastructure supports revenue-generating applications, the business risk of migration increases substantially. You'll need:

• Comprehensive business continuity planning

• Zero or near-zero downtime migration strategies

• Robust fallback options and contingency plans

• Extensive pre-production testing

• Phased cutover approaches with business validation at each step

Why Start Now: Planning no-impact migrations for revenue-critical systems typically adds 4-6 months to migration timelines, with most of that time spent in planning and testing.

The Migration Math

Let’s break down the timeline to highlight why these warning signs are critical.

With the hard deadline set for June 2026, a complex migration (one that involves multiple warning signs) typically takes between 12 and 18 months to complete. 

This means that, at the latest, you should have started planning it by December 2024.

However, when you factor in business cycles, budget planning, and resource allocation, it’s clear that the initial assessment should ideally begin in early to mid-2024.

For organizations facing multiple warning signs, the migration timeline becomes even more compressed, making early action even more urgent.

Why Latitude is Uniquely Positioned to Help

Latitude.sh has built a global bare metal platform that offers a natural landing spot for Equinix Metal workloads. 

The architecture provides similar performance characteristics and capabilities for gaming, streaming, Web3, and everything else–minimizing the technical differences you'll need to address during migration.

Also, Latitude.sh's team includes engineers with deep experience in Metal migrations, and they have developed specific tooling and methodologies to streamline the transition process. 

If you migrate with Latitude.sh, you can count on: 

• The exact locations Equinix Metal used

• Flexible configurations to fit your specific requirements

• Streamlined migration paths designed explicitly for Equinix Metal customers

• Competitive pricing with transparent billing and no hidden fees

Take the First Step Today

If any of these warning signs resonate with your organization, it's time to start planning your bare metal workloads migration.

Contact us to get Latitude.sh's free Equinix Metal Migration Checklist to evaluate your specific situation and develop a realistic roadmap that ensures a seamless transition before the 2026 deadline.

This comprehensive checklist will help you:

• Assess the complexity of your current Equinix Metal setup

• Identify migration challenges based on your unique warning signs

• Set realistic timelines tailored to your needs

• Prepare your team for a smooth and efficient transition

Organizations that recognize these early warning signs and begin their migration planning now will benefit from a smoother process, reduced costs, and minimized business risks—whether you're in gaming, streaming, ad tech, Web3, or enterprise.

This article is part of our comprehensive Equinix Metal EOL Migration Guide series, which includes more in-depth articles, webinars, and tools to help with your bare metal migration.

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