Hello WHT Members,

E.FreeServers is a privately funded start-up based in the San Francisco Bay Area. We're currently offering free web servers with the following features:

Free Cobalt RaQ 4i, Dell PowerApp (Windows 2000), Red Hat 7.0, or FreeBSD 4.2
Intel Pentium III 866MHz w/256K cache
256MB SDRAM Memory
20.5GB Ultra SCSI Hard Drive
Full 'super-user' root access
Free & Unlimited IP's
Free Set-Up
Free Monthly Tape Back-Up
24x7 Server Monitoring with 99.99% uptime guarantee
OC48 Network (powered by Cisco 12000 Series Routers)

Bandwidth Pricing: 150GB for $299.00 / month. Acquisition cost is $0.00 after 20 months of bandwidth services from EFS Networks.

Call us if you have any question.

i like this new concept of paying by bandwidth, but i haven't heard of your company before.

the domain whois states that you registered the domain less than a month ago, so you're not an old company. and your website doesnt state your address, the names of your management, your NOC location, nothin'. just your support tel. so who runs the show?

Hi Ememex,

We are a new company that was launched earlier this month after receiving capital from private investors. As for the domain name, we had registered several names prior to February but found out the efreeservers.com was still available so we grab it.

If you need to find out our address (including noc location)and office hours, go to http://www.efreeservers.com/contact.htm

Have a great day.

How does this work.
Is the unit placed on the rack and then I would be responsible for everything after the first setup? No support for anything? Would I be responsible for replacing hardware if it fails?

Will you ship me the unit after the year is up and I go elsewhere? Will I actually own it and will you give me a contract saying I own it after the year?

I find it weird there is no link to your contract and TOS linked from the main site.

Please let me know.

Originally posted by E.FreeServers
Bandwidth Pricing: 150GB for $299.00 / month. Acquisition cost is $0.00 after 20 months of bandwidth services from EFS Networks.

Call us if you have any question.

Just saw that this might help you with your questions.

Oh yes, one more thing. Upon ordering will you send me an invoice with serial number attached to prove it is a new server from dell and not the cheapest thing you can find?

This is like getting a cell phone where you don't pay for the phone, only the service, but you need to stay with them almost 2 years to get it. I take it also that if you don't use the 150GB of bandwidth, you still have to pay for it and it doesn't carry over to next month.

Thank you all for your interests in E.FreeServers. I like to take this opportunity to address Jeremy's questions first then on to Michael.

Q1) Is the unit placed on the rack and then I would be responsible for everything after the first setup? No support for anything? Would I be responsible for replacing hardware if it fails?

A1) Our free servers program is targeted toward people who have experience with server administration currently or in the past. After you order your server, we will set up your server for free (i.e. DNS, Email, Subnet mask, default gateway, etc). You'll be given the login name and password to access your server. As for support, we do provide several services for free, but primary server admin tasks are your responsibilities. If any hardware fails during the contract period, EFS will replace them free of charge. In brief, EFS may not be the right company for people who've never manage their own server before.

Q2) Will you ship me the unit after the year is up and I go elsewhere? Will I actually own it and will you give me a contract saying I own it after the year?

A2) EFS will ship your server(s) to you for $0.00 after 20 months of continuous bandwidth services from EFS. The service contract has 2 part: Part 1 requires 12 months of bandwidth services; Part 2: To buy the server from EFS for $0.00 requires a 20 months commitment. Please note that you can buy the server at anytime at the price listed in the service agreement.

As for our Service Agrement, there is a link at the bottom of each order page as well as the "about EFS" page. Here is the link -- http://www.efreeservers.com/legal.htm

Note: The official service agrement is the same as the one online, but both the customer and EFS will be required to sign it; thus ensuring its legally binding status.

Q3) Upon ordering will you send me an invoice with serial number attached to prove it is a new server from dell and not the cheapest thing you can find?

A3) Absolutely. After you've sign the service agreement, EFS will send you a copy of the receipt from Cobalt and Dell. There are other ways of verifying the hardware and software of your server, so an experience administrator like yourself would have no problem with such confirmation. Plus all customers are welcome to visit our data center to see their own server for themselves.

As for Michael's comment, you're correct is saying that our business model is similar to the free phone plan. People thought is was crazy a few years ago when Nokia and Motorola were giving their phones away for free. Now, you've have to be insane to actually pay for your cell phone. With regard to people not using 150GB of bandwidth each month, I respectfully disagree. You'll note that there are no restrictions on contents for both our free servers and free co-location services. This mean EFS welcome all type of sites, including adult-contents, chat room, bullentin board, MP3, and games.

I hope my answers are helpful in your decision making process. Give us a call at 1-415-671-3841 if you like some more information about our products and services.

Best Regards.

Originally posted by E.FreeServers
With regard to people not using 150GB of bandwidth each month, I respectfully disagree. You'll note that there are no restrictions on contents for both our free servers and free co-location services.

I think you may have misinterpreted what I was saying.

clarification:
If a customer only uses 30GB/mo, are they charged for 30GB or 150GB?

I agree with you on this one.

If I only use 50gb, does your plan work.

If it doesnt, then this is a total rip off.

Anyone can do this.

Joe

"Anyone can do this. "
Please tell us a few companies that offer:

Intel Pentium III 866MHz w/256K cache
256MB SDRAM Memory
20.5GB Ultra SCSI Hard Drive
Free & Unlimited IP's
Free Set-Up
150 GB transfer

for $300 a month

I can name several companies:

For instance. I do.

Are current special is

PIII 933 256mb of RAM
125 gb of Transfer
9gb SCSI
Unlimited IP's and Free setup and thats for

$285 a month
Which also includes the Ensim Control Panel. Giving my clients one of the best panels in the industry.

Joe

I would not consider this a rip at all. From what I can tell it is actually a great marketing tactic and will probably bring them great sucess.

Would you rent a dedicated server from VDI with the plan saying you get 50GB of traffic and then ask if you get a discount if you don't use all 50GB?

If you don't use all the 150GB then this plan is not going to save you all the money in the world but if you do then it sounds pretty good if you ask me. I don't see Alabanza or VDI giving you a server after you have been with them for 2 years.

The only question which can not be nswered here is about reliability (especially in CA wil rolling blackouts). But time will tell us this.

If they would work out a deal with VDI to resel CP for $100/mth like some other NOCs and their reliability is good then this might be something alot of people here might be interested in for their hosting business.

JBIZ718,
Could you post your email or ICQ #?
I want to talk to you about the plan you just mentioned

Here is my ICQ #:

106419280

Im not a big ICQ fan, but I will be on it for a while.

Joe

There is no such thing as free, only marketing people trying to tell you there are.

Basically if you do the 20mths and get the server and pay the $300mth for all of them you just spent $2500 on a server and then about $1.16 per GB.

Yes, but the server doesnt cost them nearly that much and then the bandwidth pricing is much higher... actually closer to $2.00+/GB.

It is not a scam. They have a very good angle and one that we are thinking of employing. There is a catch, as in most of these plans. There are 20 monthly payments to be made before you actually own the server. Yes, you can leave anytime you want, but must pay the full amount if you want to keep the server, otherwise, you are buying GB and server lease for $300/mo which is not that bad anyway.

Where they get you is like with any other hosting package. You get great benefit if you hit 150GB/mo. If you fall short of that, you must still pay for the 150GB, and quite frankly, most sites do not use that much (although there are many that do). So in the long run, they are making money.

It is, as I mentioned before, like a cell phone contract. They are banking on the fact that most people do not use that much traffic. If they actually did, then they would be gone very quickly because they would be losing a lot of money/month.

It is just like virtual hosting when we all can offer these high GB packages and lots of disk space, but help us please if everyone of our clients used even 50% of what we give them.

Thats my only fear is that they will get all these hosting companies who rent from them and actually do fill up the servers with their own clients. Then R.Free would probably run out of money quick and you would get nothing when they shut down. That and I see no gaurantee that the prices will never rise over the 20mths. If they are making no money at the end of your 12mth contract what is to say they won't raise the price for the rest of the 8mths of the 20.

Originally posted by WeinBar
Yes, but the server doesnt cost them nearly that much and then the bandwidth pricing is much higher... actually closer to $2.00+/GB.

It is not a scam. They have a very good angle and one that we are thinking of employing. There is a catch, as in most of these plans. There are 20 monthly payments to be made before you actually own the server. Yes, you can leave anytime you want, but must pay the full amount if you want to keep the server, otherwise, you are buying GB and server lease for $300/mo which is not that bad anyway.

Where they get you is like with any other hosting package. You get great benefit if you hit 150GB/mo. If you fall short of that, you must still pay for the 150GB, and quite frankly, most sites do not use that much (although there are many that do). So in the long run, they are making money.

It is, as I mentioned before, like a cell phone contract. They are banking on the fact that most people do not use that much traffic. If they actually did, then they would be gone very quickly because they would be losing a lot of money/month.

It is just like virtual hosting when we all can offer these high GB packages and lots of disk space, but help us please if everyone of our clients used even 50% of what we give them.

Originally posted by WeinBar
Yes, but the server doesnt cost them nearly that much

So how do I go about getting 50% from dell? :)

For some people this may be a great deal.