LiquidWeb acquires WiredTree

AnnouncementWiredTree has been sold to Liquid Web. If you were not sure about ordering a VPS or dedicated server from WiredTree or Liquid Web then you don’t need to worry anymore. WiredTree is now owned by Liquid Web. There is no official word from Liquid Web or WiredTree at this time.

Email from CEO of Liquid Web

An excerpt from an email that Liquid Web sent to WiredTree customers about the sale:

Now let me answer some of your important questions.

Your pricing will not change.
In fact, we intend to upgrade your services at your current pricing level.

You will have the same or better products and services.
You can expect not only consistent product capabilities, but we will be providing you with the same or better products, with several improvements and benefits.

Your IP address will stay the same and you may continue to use the same nameservers.
Your new server will be given an additional IP address for testing. When it is time to move traffic to the new server, your current IP addresses will be transferred so that no DNS changes are required.

We will begin upgrading your service within the next two weeks. Before the upgrade takes place, we will contact you with information about your personal upgrade schedule and the exact hardware you will receive. Your data will be migrated to Liquid Web’s wholly-owned, state-of-the-art data center, featuring industry-leading hardware and premium security services. We have assigned a dedicated team to work on your upgrade and you will be provided a direct line to communicate with them throughout the process. We will follow up with instructions about your enhanced account and the new features it offers as well as billing and account management. You can be assured that we will do everything we can to make your server upgrade process a smooth one and to make sure your websites transition seamlessly.

Thank you for trusting WiredTree and Liquid Web with the success of your websites. We are proud to have you as a Liquid Web customer and want to be your partner in hosting for years to come.

Sincerely,
Jim Geiger
CEO, Liquid Web

Buying and selling web hosts

Liquid Web recently acquired some assets from Rackspace and sold its shared web hosting business. Now Liquid Web is acquiring a major virtual private server (VPS) provider. WiredTree is one of the major VPS providers in the web hosting industry.

Founder was ex-Liquid Web

What you may of had not known was that the founder of WiredTree was an ex-Liquid Web employee. The founder of WiredTree worked at Liquid Web from 2001 to 2006. WiredTree was launched in 2006 and has gone on to become a major VPS provider.

Datacenter & network changes

The new owners of WiredTree is transitioning customers to their own datacenter. WiredTree ran their datacenter operations out of Chicago, IL. Liquid Web owns and operates at least three different datacenters that are based in Michigan and one in Arizona.

If you enjoyed the WiredTree network then there will be a change. WiredTree uses: NTT, Level 3, GTT, and TeliaSonera as their bandwidth providers. Liquid uses a different mix of bandwidth providers.

Liquid Web’s Michigan datacenter bandwidth providers: Comcast, Cogent, Level 3, and Verizon.

Liquid Web’s Arizona datacenter bandwidth providers: Cogent and Level 3

Does Liquid Web outsource technical support?

No, Liquid Web doesn’t outsource their technical support operations. If you are a WiredTree customer that has received the email from Liquid Web. It mentions that all of Liquid Web’s technicians are based out of the US.

Will Liquid Web raises prices?

The email from Liquid Web to WiredTree customers says there would be no pricing changes.

WiredTree brand to be kept?

Only the management of Liquid Web would know if the WiredTree brand would be kept separate from Liquid Web or the brand would be retired.

Is this good or bad?

Liquid Web has a so-so reputation in the web hosting industry. Liquid Web isn’t a no name in the web hosting industry. They have been around for over 15 years. If you are an ex-Liquid Web customer that switched to WiredTree then you may not like the sale of the company.

Technical support wise – the service should be comparable if not the same.

What is changing?

At this time the only known changes is the ownership of WiredTree. WiredTree is now owned by Liquid Web. There will be a slight difference in network performance because Liquid Web uses a different mix of fiber providers.

If you are an existing WiredTree VPS/dedicated customer then you will be migrated to Liquid Web’s datacenter.

Liquid Web vs. WiredTree

This question is no longer relevant because WiredTree is now owned by Liquid Web.

When was WiredTree sold to Liquid Web?

It looks like the ownership change took place around August of 2016.