Im reading their site.
Im just really not beliving this, or understanding it.

They give you a free server.. free everything.
And all you pay for is bandwidth?

Someone clarify how this works exactly.
thanks

Trevor

20 month contract I believe, and a minimum bandwidth purchase, but other than that...

i mean.. you get the best server money can buy.
and bandwidth is dirt cheap.

So.. you have to buy 200gigs minimum
for 300$ a month

Thats beautiful.

I must be missing something

Well, as Chicken said: There is a 20 month contract.
and if you don't use all the bandwidth... you end up paying a lot/gig.

maybe... you end up paying alot per gig
but its 300$ for 200gigs.
plus i get a free server.
thats still way cheaper than a dedicated server.

isnt it?
is there a catch anywhere?

No Catch, 20 month contract, and I think they have only been around since around january-01. So there is some risk, if your willing to take that risk its a good deal - as long as they dont fold in a couple of months or there service and uptime go downhill and your stuck having to pay off the rest of the contract and having to find a new host.
Thats the biggest reason "Everyone" isnt doing it.

You will be tight by a 20 months contract, if you want to terminate the contract within 20 months, you need to purchase the server from EFS at the price stated in their site and your contract.

After 20 months the server is yours.

You need to have certain level of server admin knowledge to have your dedicated server from EFS because they are targeted ad more experience user.

They will charge $200/hour if you need their engineers to assist you setup the server, install custome software or some technical issues. (anyway you can e-mail them to negotiate the price)

And one more thing is the server do not come with DNS and mail server. You need to get / install your earn.

I strongly recomend you to have a deep search at this forum before you sign the contract with them.

Another trick is: you may signup as a reseller of EFS first. Than you will get a $50 (one time) and 10% of bandwidth + 50% of hardware upgrade commissens.

Anyway their support are still fast.

:)

RunOfTheMill, there's no catch there mate. And absolutely no hidden costs.

They made things very easy us. Installed everything, and provide no end of support.

Drop me a line if you have any specific enquiries.

Gary

I've only heard good things about E.Freeservers thus far. If you don't need that much bandwidth though, Tera-Byte Dot Com's 4webspace.com and Rackshack are probably better value.

Originally posted by avara
I've only heard good things about E.Freeservers thus far. If you don't need that much bandwidth though, Tera-Byte Dot Com's 4webspace.com and Rackshack are probably better value.

Yeah, but those are cobalts servers. We're talking about 1GHZ and dual 850mhz here...not the same machines :D

Originally posted by Ericd


Yeah, but those are cobalts servers. We're talking about 1GHZ and dual 850mhz here...not the same machines :D

You can get Cobalt servers at E.Freeservers as well though. RaQ 4r's to be exact, with dual 20 GB Raid disks.

I know, but i prefer a dual 850 box over a cobalt, that's what i was trying to say :)

As for EFS, there's no cath, RunOfTheMill. I was going to take a server with them but i don't like being stuck in a 20 months contract. If you are fine with that, i say go with them. Their reseller program is appealing too.

The thing is though, if they go bankrupt or end up terminating the contract themselves, you are not responsible for buying the server. It's only if you terminate the contract.


VII. Termination

This Agreement may be terminated by E.FreeServers, without cause, by giving the other party 30 days notice via e-mail or fax. In such event, E.FreeServers will be required to pay to the other party an amount equal to the unused and prorated portion of service excluding any setup charges. Notwithstanding the above, E.FreeServers may terminate the service under this Agreement at any time, without penalty, if the customer fails to comply with the terms of this Agreement. It is the customer's responsibility to point your domain(s) to another service provider upon termination, cancellation or discontinuation of service.

It's an interesting business plan. Where is how I think they make it work.

They give you a server for free if you stay for 20 months. They call it a "free" server and all you pay for is bandwidth. Well, this is just a play on the numbers.

They probably have 20 month leases on these servers with a $1.00 buy out. They give you 200 GB of bandwidth with each servers with the hopes you do not use it all. Based upon my experience, I would say that 75% of their customers probably do not use/go over the allotted amount. They really over sell their network (which is not the smartest ideas). I think they use Level3 for bandwidth which is cheap so bandwidth does not cost them that much.

So here is the math:
SERVER LEASE: $100.00/Month
RACK FEE: $10.00/Month
BANDWIDTH (of an average customer): $15.00
SUPPORT/ETC: $50.00
-------------------------------------------------
EFREESERVER'S COST: $175.00
THEY BILL: $299.00

I really think that it is just a creative marketing idea (which is a pretty interesting one) to sell servers, and I am sure it works well for them.

PS. This is just my speculation and I really don't know what they are doing. :)

They probably have 20 month leases on these servers with a $1.00 buy out.
Just to put my $.02 in...
They do indeed buy the servers out-right. They do not lease them. They will happily send you the receipt for your server.
BANDWIDTH (of an average customer): $15.00
On which planet?

It is very true that this plan doesn't make sense for some people. They are targeting higher-bandwidth users. That's why it's structured the way it is.

They do indeed buy the servers out-right. They do not lease them. They will happily send you the receipt for your server. Same difference :)

BANDWIDTH (of an average customer): $15.00On which planet? Well that would be earth! :)

Here's what I'm saying:
If you want to have a web hosting business, and you setup a server with, say, 200 sites...how is that going to be an "average" of $15 worth of bandwidth?
I see you are selling a similar plan, albeit on a Power Edge, with 10 GB transfer (not 200), less RAM and extra bandwidth at $4/GB for the same price, plus $250 setup fee. Now, I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I don't think I'd start throwing stones at a company offering more than you, lest someone thinks you are just trying to kill competition.

I'm sure you're thinking, "but our packages are MANAGED SERVERS". But from what I can tell, the only service you provide beyond EFS is "We offer you the installation of most standard packages (MySQL, IMail, etc.) at no additional charge." Everything else is either "apples to apples", or has a price tag.

I'm not trying to start a flame war here, but I hate to see good companies get reamed by competitors "speculation" as you put it.

Where's the beef?

Where's the beef?I think it's in Texas :)

Everything else is either "apples to apples"There is a big difference between the two and if you have a second I can show you. There are very few things that you can compare "apples-to-apples".

These are two completely different types of services. If you want to know how, just email me as I am sure everyone here does not want to hear it. :)

Please, don't take this as "throwing stones" as it's just an observation.

Take care,

These are two completely different types of services. If you want to know how, just email me as I am sure everyone here does not want to hear it.
Then what makes you think they wanted your "speculation" in the first place? It looks like you've been around long enough to know that if you don't have experience with a particular company, then you aren't supposed to post your "speculation". There's a very good reason for this: Because if your "speculation" is wrong, then you have simply maligned a company for no reason.
Please, don't take this as "throwing stones" as it's just an observation.
I don't, and I hope you don't think I'm doing this, either. But the fact is you have no right to post your "speculation" about a competitor on this board. It makes you look bad, it makes them look bad, and it makes me look bad for spending all this time defending them.

Anyway, feel free to email me your comparison. sbradley@intelli-host.com

Then what makes you think they wanted your "speculation" in the first place? Because of the original post "Whats the deal with E.FreeServers?"

Have a great one!

Originally posted by RunOfTheMill
you get the best server money can buy.
and bandwidth is dirt cheap. So.. you have to buy 200gigs minimum for 300$ a month

Cheap? Here's my simple mathematics,

1 Server, 300Gigs = $299

or Rackshack;

3 Server, 450Gigs) = 3 x $99 *(Promotion added to 175Gigs mean 525Gigs in total)

And the "Pay to Own after 20 months"? :) After changing quite a number of PC in the past, I'll never forget computer hardware and technological gadgets depreciate at tremendous rate. By 2003, P4 2K Mhz server would be quite common, or probably 3K?

Originally posted by determinist
And the "Pay to Own after 20 months"? :) After changing quite a number of PC in the past, I'll never forget computer hardware and technological gadgets depreciate at tremendous rate. By 2003, P4 2K Mhz server would be quite common, or probably 3K?

I'd rather say Pentium V :)

;) Also by then this box beside me would be sitting somewhere in the garage, so what's the point of pay to own? antique collections?

sbrad, I really don't think RackMy.com was off base by making speculations. Any good competitor is constantally making them about you. In order to plan, compete and succeed, you will absolutally have to make assumptions about the other guy. Especially if they are privatally run. Business is not about planning in a vacuum. It is about competing. To compete, you will need specualte.

Since this is a public forum, he just made his speculation public. Many people don't have the - you know what - even to make bold statements. They just site back and argue when someone else does. (PS - not referring to you. I have read many of your post :) )

Hell, I get kicked, hit, spit on and flamed left and right on these boards. But that is the chance you take when you post tough comments.

Rackshack provides RaQs at $99/month, not Dell PowerApp or FreeBSD servers.

Frankly I'd sooner pay $300 and have 1 Netra (that I'd own) than $450 and get 3 RAQ's I only lease.