What we are
A dedicated server provider and an ISP. We sell capacity, rackspace and connectivity, and we keep the infrastructure under it running. Everything above the operating system is yours — our servers are unmanaged, by design.
About us
Servers and networks, for years on end
Novogara is a dedicated server provider and an internet service provider in Amsterdam. Since 2012 we have been delivering unmanaged bare metal and colocation on our own network — the hardware, the routing, the racks and the people, all of it in our own hands. This page explains what that gets you, and what it does not.
Who we are
What we are good at
Networks and hardware, both. Deep experience with Linux and BSD on the server side, and with Juniper, Arista and Cisco equipment on the network side — over a decade of it, and thousands of dedicated servers running. That depth is the reason problems get found and fixed here instead of forwarded.
How we work
Stability, reliability and performance first, and real service around it. No runaround, no scripted replies, no being passed between departments. Serious infrastructure for serious business.
For the avoidance of doubt
And what we are not
Half of choosing a supplier is working out what they actually do, and the fastest way there is a straight list of what they do not. So, plainly.
- Not a hosting company. We do not host websites, mailboxes or applications. We deliver the machine and the connectivity under it; what runs on top is yours.
- Not managed. We do not patch your operating system, tune your database or watch your application. That is deliberate — you keep root, and nobody logs into your machine but you.
- Not a reseller of someone else's capacity. The hardware is ours, the network is ours, the engineers are ours. When something breaks there is no third party to wait for.
- Not bulletproof. We are established in the Netherlands and we act under Dutch and European law. What is not allowed is written out in our acceptable use policy, in plain language.
- Not the cheapest. There are cheaper machines than ours. There are not many that have been running as long, on a network that has been carrying traffic since 2012.
- Not built for a quick flip. We are here for long-term business and we work best with customers and resellers who want the same. If you need a box for a weekend, any provider will do.
Why bare metal
A machine of your own, not a slice of someone else's
Most infrastructure today is shared, virtualised and metered. A dedicated server is the opposite of that, and for a particular kind of workload it is still the better deal by a distance.
Nothing else is scheduled on it
Every core, every memory channel and every I/O operation belongs to you. No noisy neighbour stealing cycles at the worst possible moment, no burst credits running out, no steal time in your graphs. What you measure on a Tuesday afternoon is what you get on a Sunday night.
For databases, virtualisation hosts and anything latency-sensitive, that predictability is worth more than a headline clock speed.
A bill that does not surprise you
You buy a machine and a port: either a generous monthly traffic allowance or an unmetered uplink. There is no per-gigabyte charge at the end of the month for traffic you could not predict, and no separate line for every IOPS you used.
One fixed amount per month, invoiced fourteen days in advance, that you can put in a budget and forget about.
Down to the kernel
Your own operating system with free reinstalls, your own hypervisor, your own storage layout, your own firewall rules. Linux, BSD or whatever else you run.
Hardware chosen for the job
Not a generic instance size that nearly fits. Cores, memory, disks and uplink are picked for the workload, and changed later if the workload changes.
Built to stay put
Machines here run for years, not minutes. No migration windows you did not ask for, no instance type being retired from under you.
Yours to fill
Run twenty virtual machines on it, or one process that eats the whole box. We do not count containers and we do not care how you carve it up.
And to be honest about it: bare metal is not the answer to everything. If you need to create and destroy machines by the minute, a cloud does that better. What a dedicated server is good at is running something heavy, continuously, for years, at a price you can predict — and that is the work we take on.
Since 2012
Anyone can build a beautiful website
There are more providers than ever, and most of them look the part. We have been running servers and networks since 2012 — through several generations of hardware, through a network we rebuilt ourselves, and through a long list of companies that turned up with a slick website and were gone again a year later.
No stories, no overselling, no promises the network cannot keep. You get what we say you get, and we are still here afterwards to answer for it.
We are real, and we stay real.
A customer, not a number
We are not the largest provider and we are not trying to be. What we offer is people who know your setup, answer quickly, and will build something that fits instead of handing you the nearest package. That is also why a proven, stable provider is worth something: you stop thinking about us.
We are also built for the long run, and we would rather work with people who are. A customer or a reseller who is still here in five years is worth more to us than a rush of orders that churns in three months — so that is who we price for, think along with, and spend our time on.
Whether that is one server, a rack of your own hardware, or capacity you resell under your own name — tell us what you need and we will tell you straight away whether we can do it.
In practice
What that means day to day
Monitored around the clock
Our infrastructure is watched continuously, so in most cases we are already on a problem before you notice it.
No outages
Redundant carriers and routing of our own, inside facilities with redundant power and cooling — no single point that can take your server offline, and practically no maintenance that costs you any. We commit to 99.99% uptime.
Extremely flexible
Custom builds, unusual requirements and changes at short notice are normal work here, not exceptions we talk you out of.
Delivered within the hour
Most servers are ready within 60 minutes of ordering. No provisioning queue to wait in.
Everything in our own hands
Our network, our hardware, our engineers. No third party in between, and nobody else deciding when your server comes back.
Jurisdiction
Amsterdam, and Dutch law with it
The machines stand in Amsterdam, one of the largest internet hubs in Europe, which is why a packet from here reaches most of the continent in a handful of milliseconds. That is the practical reason to be here.
The other reason is legal. Novogara BV is a Dutch company and your agreement is with that company, under Dutch and European law, in front of a Dutch court. Not a holding somewhere else, and not terms written for another continent.
What that means for you
- Your data is covered by the GDPR, and our privacy statement says in plain words what little we hold.
- Our servers are unmanaged, so we have no access to what is on them and no interest in it.
- Abuse reports are handled by us under Dutch notice and takedown, by people in the same time zone as the network — not by a form that disappears.
- We do not answer to the DMCA, because it is not our law. A notice under it is judged on what it actually shows.
- Invoices come from a Dutch BV with a VAT number, which your accountant will appreciate more than a prepaid credit balance.
Put your workload on our network
Solid hardware, a solid network, and people who answer. Describe what you need to run and we will come back with a configuration and a price.