[Confirmed] GreenValueHost being sold to XFuseSolutions

[SkylarM]

Bahaha!  He'll be in the industry no doubt.  This stuff is who Jonny is.   Just thinking his next round will be more sustainable and less public noise and likely less visible on our radars.

Doubt it. He craves the attention.

 

[drmike]

Doubt it. He craves the attention.

Ideally that stage for him is coming to a close as he enters the age of adulthood.

 

[ryanarp]

Enjoyed meeting with you Duke. Looking forward to hearing about your new adventure. 

 

[DomainBop]

Only reason this deal is remotely doable on customer side is that they are staying put.  No more migrations (common drop / annoyance point).

A change in ownership but no change in data center isn't going to stop the flow of angry customers starting threads on WHT because they were assigned dirty IPs  (like the GVH customer today, who was migrated to Chicago because the IPs he was assigned in Buffalo were dirty...and this wasn't the first thread this week involving GVH and dirty IPs).  So Jonny goes but the dirty IPs and need to change IPs or even migrate to a different city to get a clean IP remain (not to mention the mediocre network performance).

Hate to state the obvious, but there's never value in buying customers as they shift constantly from provider to provider in that price range. Acquiring the client base of GVH is likely going to cost more than it will be worth

Agreed. The only reason any of those (4500?) VPS and dedicated customers chose GVH is the unsustainable low prices.  Raise the prices even a little and those customers will be gone in a second to whoever is offering a low price that week. Low end customers are notorious for rotating monthly to the next deal.  Not to mention the fact that a good chunk of those customers are customers nobody but Ecatel would want (email and comment spammers, botnet operators, hackers, DDoSers, and other skids, etc).

 

[drmike]

A change in ownership but no change in data center isn't going to stop the flow of angry customers starting threads on WHT because they were assigned dirty IPs  (like the GVH customer today, who was migrated to Chicago because the IPs he was assigned in Buffalo were dirty...and this wasn't the first thread this week involving GVH and dirty IPs).  So Jonny goes but the dirty IPs and need to change IPs or even migrate to a different city to get a clean IP remain (not to mention the mediocre network performance).

Agreed. The only reason any of those (4500?) VPS and dedicated customers chose GVH is the unsustainable low prices.  Raise the prices even a little and those customers will be gone in a second to whoever is offering a low price that week. Low end customers are notorious for rotating monthly to the next deal.  Not to mention the fact that a good chunk of those customers are customers nobody but Ecatel would want (email and comment spammers, botnet operators, hackers, DDoSers, and other skids, etc).

So angry customers, sure, they are out there.  Some folks have been dropped for basket of reasons, including staff fubars.  That staff won't be involved after the deal is done.  A bunch of the abuse folks will be shed one way or another (clearly an issue in GVH land), abuse won't be tolerated either.

As far as pricing goes.  Existing customers will be maintained on price and renewed at or about the same pricing.  New customers are not going to be priced at those rates.  The days of these "crazy deals" are gone.   I don't expect Duke and Co. to jack rates sky high, but if folks were buying the cheapest product in the market, yeah, those folks might start buying elsewhere.

As far as IPs go, CC being the company utilized back side doesn't have a sterling reputation with IPs and clean ranges.  Unclear what will entirely be done yet, but goal is NOT use their IPs where possible.  It creates too many issues, future work, general waste of resources.

 

[zed]

I can't help thinking this will be amusing to watch unfold, but I hope it works out well for all involved.

 

[Lee]

Existing customers will be maintained on price and renewed at or about the same pricing.  New customers are not going to be priced at those rates.  The days of these "crazy deals" are gone.

It's the only reason the went with GVH and the only reason they will stay.  That customer base will disintegrate rapidly.  But yeah, an interesting one to watch and see how it unfolds. 

Kudos for getting involved and setting it up right but, hosting clients are a fickle bunch.  No matter how bad the GVH brand has been, you take it away and they will seek it out again. Big mistake not to control the brand.  Raise their prices and they will run.   There is a reason they went with GVH and your taking their reasons away and their renewed business.

But will be interesting to see how it plays out.  Try it and keep all the drama over here though huh,

 

[drmike]

But will be interesting to see how it plays out.  Try it and keep all the drama over here though huh,

This is for sure. Drama is bound to spill over.  GVH, the legend of won't be slow to die.  To aid in that, customers will be going under a new brand.  Brand recognition GVH has is all over, but tone in 3ms of research is negative signal, pure price-only rope in.  Not trust = buy it brand.

I don't see customers jumping ship.  If they tolerated what they got at GVH they were either very fortunate or not paying too good of attention.  All providers love paying customers who don't use their services  They'll be getting better services, lower competition for resources, right sized boxes - at least that's the goal so far.

As far as that brand attracting more of the unsustainable price while getting high use packages,  I think this industry is about to see that gone.    Not just GVH, but brands like CVPS too.   The segment is overdue for some corrections.  Only so many years suck can be bottled and sold as a bargain.

Which means big picture,  the industry is growing up, consolidation is happening and prices are going to normalize upwards a bit.  Service quality should go up in corresponding manner.

Look at the range big picture in industry as a whole:

$4-80 per GB RAM straight more honest sales.  That low end even less on OpenVZ sales, but offset by mass oversell.

It's not like massive core boxes (100's of cores) and 100's of GBs of RAM really exist.  You can get such, but no one I know of has a model on such pricey gear.    Practical limits on 12-24 cores + < 100GB of RAM + 4-12 drives is pretty well known at this time.  Modeling everyone's numbers, simple enough.

$80 a GB of RAM is just stupid.  $4GB of RAM is equally stupid.  Some happy zone for customers and companies in $8-20 range.  Higher cost means more justification, more value added, more actual staff, certifications, standards.

Then again, I've always felt it was strange to see customers expect mega sized resources for a few dollars or less per month.  I can understand big bandwidth want (VPN) or a bit more RAM (middlware) or even a sip more CPU (many  software packages)... Needing all of it and wanting equivalent of a full desktop in a VPS spec wise, unrealistic. I didn't like that model when CVPS started with the big packages and I remain disturbed years later by the continued failures of such plans and the emulators doing the same.

 

[Lee]

Then again, I've always felt it was strange to see customers expect mega sized resources for a few dollars or less per month. 

Don't blame the customer for that, blame the providers.

If you look around and see many providers offering 2GB of ram for $5 and a couple of others offering 2GB of ram for $10 where is the average customer going to go?  Will he believe in the marketing BS that says "we offer better quality/support for your money" or will he go with psychical resource because he will actually receive that?

Customers largely need to make their own mistakes to learn.  Fact of hosting life.

 

[mikho]

This news made me confused and now my head hurts.


I'm having a hard time understanding the logic behind the decision to actually buy the hardware and clients, as I've understood from the replies here in this thread is the "things" thats actually bought.


I wish you all the best Duke with this as I believe you want to do something good with this but I won't be surprised if all hell breaks loose on your ass as a result.


Honestly, good luck.

 

[DomainBop]

I'm having a hard time understanding the logic behind the decision to actually buy the hardware and clients,

Clients only.  GVH doesn't own any hardware.

 

[MannDude]

Was money even exchanged for this? I had a theory that by summer JB would have control over GVH. Figured he'd let him rack up some debt or something and tell him to pay it, or the lights will be turned off, or to hand the keys over. I figured that around summer time this shit would be Ernie's problem at HVH... but XFS is pretty privy with CC too. Duke was there during previous CC brand hacks/leaks. CVPS and GVH to help clean some mess up.

I'm thinking he's probably the middle man to the deal and will just be the face since people like him more than some of the others in the group.

For what it's worth, I like Duke. I get my SSLs through him so I'm not knocking him directly. Just speculating that he's probably not doing this on his own accord and that it's likely someone is behind the scenes.

 

[TheLinuxBug]

I got to admit, this whole thread leaves quite a disgusted look on my face, for a few reasons.  First off, why the heck would you want to buy a brand so tarnished in this industry and why would you even take the time to keep it from finally being absorbed into CC like it should have been eons ago?  The brand is crap, so the only thing your buying is the customer base, which I agree with the rest... give it a week and you'll likey lose more than half in a mass exodus, as none of his penny pinching customers are going to want to pay your 'new prices'.  

Also it is a bit confusing to me why someone like Duke who asked for people to donate money to help him during his hard times after his accident, would then go and recklessly spend what can only be perceived as others money on acquiring such a shit heap. (*scratches head*).  

Then to boot we have @drmike here at the front of the band wagon doing his little dance trying to convince us this is the next big thing to happen, like he is proud to call the shit heap his own.  Also to find he has likely had his hand in the cookie jar for a while as well, I am not sure what that says about him or GVH.  I would think as outspoken as @drmike has been about GVH and CC's brands in general that he would be the first to put the nails in the coffin of the joke host that just won't die, GVH.  Yet in the most confusing news to be released in this industry in many moons, here he is acting like he has saved the day by telling us his shit doesn't stink.

Not trying to be a dick here (well, maybe I am) but this is either a really sad April Fools joke a month early, or just a very sad mess that I can't logically understand why anyone would throw good money after bad to help this company stay alive.  Let the ship sink already.  Its like that horse you just can't stop beating.

*shakes head and walks away*

*sigh*

Cheers!

 

[mikho]

Clients only.  GVH doesn't own any hardware.

I guess taking over the lease then, not buying.

I'm thinking he's probably the middle man to the deal and will just be the face since people like him more than some of the others in the group.


For what it's worth, I like Duke. I get my SSLs through him so I'm not knocking him directly. Just speculating that he's probably not doing this on his own accord and that it's likely someone is behind the scenes.

If you are looking for the man in the middle for this and suspect that it eventually will end up in the hands of JB.


Read a few posts up about who helped "Nuggets " pro bono and have been looking for a buyer of the clients for some time.


This deal made me think in many different directions and that's why I have a splitting headache now.


I need to get back cleaning the house to let this sink in.

 

[kpmedia]

 First off, why the heck would you want to buy a brand so tarnished in this industry and why would you even take the time to keep it from finally being absorbed into CC like it should have been eons ago?  The brand is crap, so the only thing your buying is the customer base, which I agree with the rest... give it a week and you'll like lose more than half in a mass exodus, as none of his penny pinching customers are going to want to pay your 'new prices'. 

I never understand this either. Let a competitor die off, and gain new customers due to their death. I never understand why anybody in their right mind would buy a failing company. The main issue with GVH is the pricing is/was unsustainable, and that fact will not change if the old price is maintained. Having a high school kind "playing host" was just a secondary issue here.

Sometimes, yes, it makes sense to buy a faltering business -- but that's really rare in the "real world". For example, I don't see anybody eager to buy out Radio Shack. Small local business open and close all the time, and nobody is coming to their rescue.

I often think an utter lack of business sense infests the hosting sector. Amateurs without real-world business experience or education (college degrees) is the main reason.

That's why big (also crappy) companies like EIG, 1&1 and Godaddy rake them over the coals. (Not that the EIG buyouts decisions are any better, but they're venture vulture capitalist funded. That's the difference there. Doing these buyouts without VC money to blow is beyond stupid.)

Anybody that thinks this will end well is just fooling themselves. Long-term, it's still not viable.

The LEB market is not easy to handle, and few can do it well. BuyVM is the only one that's proven itself, as far as I'm concerned. Ramnode may be fine too, but I'm still hesitant to call it.

As far as that brand attracting more of the unsustainable price while getting high use packages,  I think this industry is about to see that gone.    Not just GVH, but brands like CVPS too.   The segment is overdue for some corrections.  Only so many years suck can be bottled and sold as a bargain.
Which means big picture,  the industry is growing up, consolidation is happening and prices are going to normalize upwards a bit.  Service quality should go up in corresponding manner.

It needs a correction. It's imploding at an exponential rate within the last few years.

Sadly, I don't see it "growing up' at all. There is still a huge influx of kids trying to get rich. Until a barrier is put back in place (be it pricing or otherwise), that will not end. As long as a $10 reseller plan makes you "a host", problems will fester.

 

[Kris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRvCvsRp5ho

"It's all the same... only the names will change....."

Seems like Jon is being replaced with Ernie 2.0. CC's other house brand was getting too much heat, let alone being banned from their own web property (LET) 

If Duke is actually taking this to a new company and not simply CC Dallas (I've been seeing a lot of Zayo around their PoPs lately, especially on the west coast) then good luck.

Seems like a changing of the guard / business as usual until seen otherwise. 

 

[AnthonySmith]

GVH publicly stated they were not sustainable, so unless they paid you to take over the mess this makes no sense, literally none.

Sorry I just don't believe the 'story' clearly some silly shit going on as usual, no one and I mean no one would intertwine their company GVH if their company is successful which it must have been to pay off your medical bills + the finance to buy another company, its like hiring a convicted child rapist in a reputable day care center.

The truth will out no doubt.

 

[Kris]

Jon was hosting long before being Inc, and long before the random friend he found to put on the Inc. slip. 

More recently when selling tons of CC servers, Jon stated he 'drew a salary'. From who? Lance, who has nothing to do with the day to day? Nah, probably CC. 

 

In all likelihood, CC gets the payments from the GVH merchant account, and pays (paid) Jon to 'run the company'. Ring a bell? 

 

Problem for CC is he's banned, GVH name banned on LET. I'm guessing they all had a pow-wow on how to improve things. New name and new 'Owner' - aka Manager.

 

Zayo in DC's they can't afford the home mix of bandwidth of is common for CC recently. 

 

I know poor Duke hit his head, but not hard enough to actually pay for GVH. Likely stepping in and will be paid a salary. 

 

[GIANT_CRAB]

Just like how they said the US "Fast Lanes" were going to be the "new big thing". 

 

[PortCTL]

A change in ownership but no change in data center isn't going to stop the flow of angry customers starting threads on WHT because they were assigned dirty IPs  (like the GVH customer today, who was migrated to Chicago because the IPs he was assigned in Buffalo were dirty...and this wasn't the first thread this week involving GVH and dirty IPs).  So Jonny goes but the dirty IPs and need to change IPs or even migrate to a different city to get a clean IP remain (not to mention the mediocre network performance).

Agreed. The only reason any of those (4500?) VPS and dedicated customers chose GVH is the unsustainable low prices.  Raise the prices even a little and those customers will be gone in a second to whoever is offering a low price that week. Low end customers are notorious for rotating monthly to the next deal.  Not to mention the fact that a good chunk of those customers are customers nobody but Ecatel would want (email and comment spammers, botnet operators, hackers, DDoSers, and other skids, etc).

Well, Ecatel has cut down on a lot of ddosers, spammers, etc. recently from what I've heard.