In this episode we talk to Jesse Schokker about GameDash and transferring from running on rented hardware to running their own infrastructure.
EmXcore Podcast episode 4 with Jesse Schokker
Lisa:
Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of The EmXcore podcast. A podcast where we will invite customers partners, or any one of whom we think has something interesting to say, or has some interesting views on the internet and networking industry. Today we are talking to Jesse Schokker who came up with a game server solution called Gamedash.
Welcome Jesse! I’m really happy that you’re here today. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?
Jesse:
I’m Jesse Schokker. I own my my company since a couple years. I am mostly active in the gaming industry. We’ve recently made the change from renting infrastructure to owning our own infrastructure and EmXcore has been a great partner in that adventure.
Lisa:
Okay, cool. So you already told a little bit about what you do? Can you tell us a bit more about Gamedash?
Jesse:
Yes, absolutely. So as I said, five years ago I decided, and it has grown since, I’ve decided to, to strike it out for myself and start my own company, and specifically in the game server hosting industry where I normally would have spent a lot of my free time. And what I saw is that the current solutions on the market were not really up to par with what I needed myself, because I was also a customer, I was hosting game servers for my friends and for my community. And I just missed the kind of professionalism that the cloud hosting companies had, that hadn’t trickled down to the to the game hosting industry.
So that started with finding the right software. And we honestly couldn’t find anything. There are a couple solutions but we feel ,at the time even, that they were out of date and something better should be implemented for our customers, because that’s the primary focus on where we wanted to improve. So we decided to make our own and make it just the way we wanted it. It has taken la little while, a lot of versions, we’ve gone over a lot of versions already. But now we’re at the point where we’re ready to not only use it for ourselves, but also use it and sell licences to other companies.
We honestly couldn’t find anything. So we decided to make our own and make it just the way we wanted it.
Lisa:
Good. And what are those things missing, those specific benefits. What kinds of things should I think about?
Jesse:
So we saw that the the largest points of improvement where the user experience. A lot of those other software products have a very basic interface or very outdated interface and wasn’t particularly welcoming to new customers or didn’t particularly reflect well on us as a company. Because we wanted to have a certain image to our customers that we were different that we were doing things different.
And if we’re stuck in the past, then obviously doesn’t give the right first impressions and only not only that, there are some technical limitations wherein for instance, what happens if one of our infrastructure nodes go down, I don’t know, maybe a drive failled or a power supply failled, or maybe a whole rack of equipment fails, then we want to make sure that the impact to our customers is as minimal as possible. Because not only will we have less complaining customers, our customers will be happy for it as well. Just take a look at the the fire at OVH in Strasbourg, our software was able to automatically redeploy everyone around the world and minimising the impact. And we’ve got almost no complaints from customers regarding that. So that’s that’s one of the things that we desperately wanted to improve.
Lisa:
That’s nice. So you don’t just do the the software part of it. But you also run your own infrastructure, right?
Jesse:
Yes, exactly. So we had our or we have our own hosting company. And we run everything on rented hardware, or used to run everything on rented hardware. And about a year ago, we made the decision to go or at least start experimenting with owned hardware. Because we wanted to explore like, how does it we work is it really that beneficial in terms of financials.
And we just wanted to have more control over what hardware we run. So if we wanted to have very specific storage configurations or something you can’t do with rented hardware because you don’t own it. And so we’re trying to combine the two right now.
So we now own our own software. And we own our own hardware. And we’re trying to get this to scale around the globe. Because not only do we provide game servers in the Netherlands, or in Europe for a matter of fact, we provide them in the US in Brazil, in Africa, in Asia, in Australia. So we want to make sure that we can also scale this concept that we have got going right now in Amsterdam across the globe.
Lisa:
Yeah, wow. And how did you end up using, I think you’re using Juniper and Arista, right?
Jesse:
Yeah. So currently, in our current data centre, we mostly use it as a proof of concept. So we use some bits of mixed equipment. And that’s how we also found out what we really need. So every piece of equipment has its strengths and weaknesses. And ultimately, we decided to go full Juniper, because we saw it had the most possibilities, or at least the most for what we want to do with it. And the most ease of use for us as well. So yeah, that was an easy choice for us.
Lisa:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I remember we talked a little bit about refurb. And your opinion has changed a bit about refurbished equipment, I believe. A lot of people have some misconceptions about refurbished equipment. I think they see it a lot of secondhand low quality or sometimes even junk.
Jesse:
Exactly. Yeah, we just take a look on eBay and just see. Not every company treats it the same way. We tried buying refurbished equipment, and our initial experience with some sellers wasn’t too positive. So yeah, we started looking at what does new equipment actually cost?
Lisa:
And then you got shocked?
Jesse:
Yeah, exactly. So primarily at the devalue deprecation. So for instances, which maybe cost 30,000 euros seven years ago, you can find it for about 1000 on eBay now. So we weren’t ready to throw that kind of money into something that depreciates in value quickly.
Lisa:
And how is your experience now? Because now you’re using refurbished equipment? Are you happy with it?
Jesse:
Yeah, exactly. I mean, so one of the points that have been brought up against refurbished equipment is Yeah, it’s older generation equipment, maybe it’s not as upgradable. But we chose for quite a expansive core, which is able to support us into the future. So at the moment, we don’t see any issues in terms of upgradability. And the equipment itself has worked just fine. So honestly, there’s no difference at the moment for us if we would have gotten everything new versus everything refurbished. And that’s where we are now. So no regrets on that part.
Lisa:
Yeah, except budget, maybe, you know.
Jesse:
Yeah, exactly. I mean, what this has allowed us to do is not only obviously do we get the hardware warranty from you, but it also allows us to keep that money in our pockets, and then invest it into actually making the company grow. Because the network infrastructure by itself is not going to grow our company. It’s only allowing us to grow the company, so if we don’t have any money left, then what do we do?
Using refurbished equipment allows us to keep that money in our pockets, and then invest it into actually making the company grow. Because the network infrastructure by itself is not going to grow our company.
Lisa:
Yeah, then how do you grow? Exactly. And how is it picking up? Are you guys growing the way you want to?
Jesse:
Yes, it is, very much so. Every piece of equipment, that we have up for rental, because not only do we you host game servers ourselves, but we also rent out dedicated servers like the companies that we used to rent from, and every piece of equipment is currently in use. So every time we add new capacity, it gets sold almost immediately. And part of that has been making sure that our network is up to par and can actually deliver or meets the high requirements that our customers need.
I mean gamers are some of the most demanding customers in the industry. If you have a little bit of latency here and there or a couple packets drops, you can expect the tickets.
Lisa:
Exactly, yes. I know that being a gamer a little bit myself as well. And in the end, you know, if you have latency that can really mess up your game. You can loose because of that you know?
Jesse:
Yeah, exactly. I mean, and there are a tonne of other options when you’re a gamer. So let’s say someone has a game server. Like if they’re having lag on that server or a large amount of latency, or package drop then they can just go to another server. And then basically that causes lost revenue on the the side of the of the owner. Then we immediately have issues because they they want to move off of us.
But if we do a good job and we set ourselves apart, not only in terms of latency and and how well our infrastructure is composed also on the on the part where we can actually handle big DDoS attacks, which is also another part. And this kind of enterprise grade equipment has allowed us to take a tonne more traffic in and does more efficiently handle DDoS attacks without affecting other customers. So that’s basically been our formula up to now to grow as fast as we have done.
Lisa:
If you would think about like your typical clients, how would you describe those?
Jesse:
Most of the time, at least on what we’re focusing right now, as we’re mostly insidide of the gaming server hosting industry, is smaller customers that either own their own hosting company or community and need a little bit more power than renting from a game server hosting provider like we do, which would give them. So most of the time it’s a lot of smaller customers. But we’re definitely looking to scale that up to some of the bigger fish in the industry, especially now that we’ve got a lot of contact to bigger game server hosting providers like ourselves through our game server Control Panel Gamedash.
Lisa:
Is there anything else in particular that you want to share?
Jesse:
In terms of infrastructure? I think, I can’t really think of any other things I really want to say to be honest. It’s honestly, there hasn’t been much room for remarks, because everything has just worked out the way we wanted it to be. And a large part of that has been the support from companies like yours, just doing what we need them to do, and just doing their job, which is becoming a rarity in every industry nowadays.
Lisa:
Well, I think, and it sounds like you guys are also trying to, like, actively helping the customer and thinking along with them. Yeah, I think that’s the best way to go.
Jesse:
Exactly. And, again, our equipment has definitely helped out with that. We’re super happy that we went with Juniper because it actually allows us to adapt to the needs of our customers.
Lisa:
Cool. At the moment, because you say a lot of the infrastructure is completely being used now, is there is there still room for new customers?
Jesse:
Definitely. So currently, what we’re doing is we’re working on, as I said, the the release of our game server control panel, that’s going to be out very, very soon. And that’s going to allow us, or, at least we’ve got some plans stacked up for more equipment across the world. So currently, we’re focusing on our deployments in London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt, and Chicago, and Sydney is going to be next. So watch out for that.
Lisa:
When will of this launch?
Jesse:
we expect, software always takes a little bit longer than we expect to develop, it has been a trend. But we’re at a point now where we’re extremely satisfied with the results. We’re miles ahead of everyone else in the industry. So we feel that it is finally ready enough. And we expect to have it launched by mid to end of Q2 this year.
Lisa:
So in terms of the future plans, what lies ahead?
Jesse:
We’re definitely not going to be resting on our laurels here, once we’ve got everything deployed and ready. Right, that’s a little bit boring. This is only stage one to a plan with many more stages than this. And what what we’ve been mainly focusing on is the consumer game hosting market. So let’s say a consumer wants a game server that’s just a single customer. Most of the time, maybe 10/20 euros a month.
What we want to be focusing on, and that’s our end goal, is to enter the commercial game hosting market. So companies like I3D or Multiplay, which specialise in providing game server hosting services to Game Studios or app developers that want to not have to manage that kind of infrastructure themselves. And also want to make sure that there’s enough infrastructure or computing resources available, once their game explodes in popularity. So we’re kind of an insurance policy. And in that sense and we, together with a couple other companies, want to be bundling our infrastructure together in order to create one big infrastructure out of nowhere. And then with our software, we’re going to be adapting it a little bit to the match some of the feature that all the other companies have. And then we’re going to try and compete with that. And the nice thing about that is it requires minimal investment upfront, but it does allow us to potentially sell a whole lot more infrastructure if we ever have any vacancies in our in our infrastructure.
Because we obviously want to make sure that we have as many customers on our infrastructure at any one time as possible. Obviously increasing our revenue. So we’re just trying to set up a tonne of businesses that have a symbiotic relationship with each other, and one benefit from the other. So let’s say software benefits from our hosting company, because it gives us a platform to sell it on. And then the revenue from licences from that we can pour back into infrastructure. So it’s just a never ending cycle. And we hope to keep that up for a little while longer.
Lisa:
Yeah, wow. Sounds good. You are not sitting still.
Jesse:
No definitely .One of the core values of why I even started this business, and I still believe in that, is I want to do it better than everyone else is currently doing. And I have a very clear plan to do that, because I think this market is being left behind. Because it’s not interesting enough for a bigger company like AWS to dive into, it is too much niche, and it doesn’t have enough potential for a tonne of revenue.
So we want to be the innovator in this space. And I think we’re the perfect candidate to do that. So that’s what we’re going to be focusing on for the next little while. And hopefully it is all going to be working out, but seeing from the growth that we’ve had up till now. And with the help, again, from companies like yours, we’ve just been astounded how fast we can grow. So I see no reason why that shouldn’t succeed.
I want to do it better than everyone else is currently doing. And I have a very clear plan how to do that, because I think this market is being left behind. We want to be the innovator in this space.
Lisa:
Cool. Well, thank you a lot for joining our podcast
Jesse:
Yeah, no problem.
Lisa:
And for the people listening Thank you for listening to this episode. Please let us know what you thought about it or if you have any suggestions for the next Episode, hopefully until the next one.
For more info on Gamedash check https://gamedash.io
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