Jaap.nl, a leading home-finding site in the Netherlands, wanted to have the ability to lease servers and was looking for a datacenter and hosting network with ample growth opportunities. LeaseWeb was the obvious choice for Jaap. “They have lots of datacenter space, an extensive network and a proactive market vision at very competitive prices.”

THE ORGANIZATION

Launched in 2007, Jaap.nl is second-largest home-finding website in the Netherlands’. Jaap.nl likes to refer to itself as the ‘terrier’ in the housing market and is now largely owned by DSB Bank. The site daily presents information on new homes that have come onto the market. One of Jaap’s characteristics is that the information is fully objective and user-friendly, with a strong focus on the house hunter. Jaap generates approximately 600,000 unique visitors per month, who are good for a total of 20 million page views.

HOSTING VIABILITY

“I’ve become a real LeaseWeb fan,” says Casper de Geus, technology manager at Jaap.nl. “I think they’re a friendly hosting provider with a solid market vision. They’re also serious and very organized. LeaseWeb is a major player who also has the ability to serve small clients. This has certain advantages for Internet startups. One can start small and expand to a point where one needs more than 100 servers. LeaseWeb has that viability. They have an extensive hosting network with a huge amount of bandwidth, many dedicated servers and network equipment in stock, and lots of datacenter space.”

LEASING SERVERS

Jaap.nl decided on the strategy to lease rather than purchase servers for its future hosting needs. De Geus: “I think it’s great that LeaseWeb offers this service for both their dedicated servers and their Cisco network equipment. Hardware for hosting infrastructure normally requires major investments. For example, a Cisco content switch easily costs thousands of euros. We now only need to pay a monthly fee instead of immediately having to make major investments for our hosting needs.”

Another advantage of leasing is that it eliminates the need for Jaap.nl employees to perform on-site maintenance and expansion work. De Geus: “LeaseWeb engineers now do this for us. This has provided us with a worry-free hosting solution at really competitive prices.”

AMSTERDAM DATACENTER

LeaseWeb has accommodated the hosting solution for Jaap.nl in its CO2-neutral EvoSwitch datacenter. “Tear-jerkingly attractive, that’s what I would call EvoSwitch,” says De Geus. “What they’ve accomplished there is really impressive. I enjoy working with people who have a vision. Most other datacenters in Amsterdam don’t look at energy consumption, even though electrical power is now a hot issue in datacenters. Energy prices keep rising. EvoSwitch has really given this issue serious consideration and has done a tremendous job optimizing the efficiency of their infrastructure. LeaseWeb fortunately has ample expansion opportunities at EvoSwitch.”

A MAJOR HOSTING PROVIDER

De Geus is also very pleased with the uptime and with LeaseWeb’s client approach. “Other hosting providers in Amsterdam have given me terribly poor service. LeaseWeb’s service is totally the opposite – it’s just very good. Their product selection is also extensive and they offer many possibilities. In theory, we could do the hosting ourselves, but our organization is fairly small. We’re therefore pleased to be able to rely on LeaseWeb’s facilities where everything is safe and where the right action is taken at the right time to facilitate our growth on an ongoing basis."

De Geus is impressed with the market vision displayed by LeaseWeb’s management. “Considering the fact that LeaseWeb is so big, their ability to organize everything so perfectly is simply amazing,” says De Geus. “We’ve noticed that LeaseWeb always keeps in mind the big picture and proactively makes the right decisions to ensure their clients’ continued growth. This is true in the datacenter, in the network, and with the equipment. Obviously, that’s what many hosting clients eventually want. LeaseWeb meets that hosting need.”