Probe Networks

What Probe Networks does

Probe Networks is a privately held German IT infrastructure and managed services provider headquartered in Merzig, founded in 2002 and relocated there from Saarlouis in 2009. The company delivers dedicated servers (Max Performance line), fully managed servers, colocation, IP connectivity and transit, and ancillary services including consulting, 24x7 support, managed services, and field engineering. Customers are primarily European e-businesses, web hosting companies, and organizations with their own server hardware requiring secure datacenter housing. The company targets horizontal use cases — server customization, managed hosting, colocation, and transit — rather than vertical specialization.

The underlying platform is anchored by Probe Networks' own redundant European backbone built on Juniper Networks routing hardware, with a proprietary metro dark fiber ring in Frankfurt and peering at DE-CIX, AMS-IX, and KleyReX. The footprint spans four Frankfurt datacenter sites plus locations in Amsterdam, London, Brussels, Paris, and (since 2019) Luxembourg (LuxConnect DC1, a Tier 4 facility). Probe Networks is a RIPE NCC member enabling direct IP allocation, is registered with the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA Reg.Nr. 15/017), and has operated on 100% renewable power since 2012. Differentiated technical features include BGP FlowSpec for DDoS mitigation, native IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack on all servers, and 99.9% to 99.999% SLA tiers with sub-30ms latency within Germany.

Revenue is generated almost entirely through monthly recurring subscriptions plus one-time setup fees, with no disclosed public pricing for transit or field engineering. Headcount is in the 11-50 range and the company is founder/CEO-led (Jonas Frey), with no disclosed funding rounds or outside investors. Distribution is direct sales only — phone (including a Freecall 0800 line), email, ticket system, and a customer portal — with no channel partner or reseller program. Revenue, customer counts, and ownership details beyond the individual founder-owner structure are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Probe Networks

Legal name

Probe Networks

Website

https://probe-networks.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Probe Networks is a German IT infrastructure provider founded in 2002, offering dedicated servers, managed servers, colocation, and IP transit services to European e-businesses and hosting companies across multiple datacenter locations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Managed IT Infrastructure Hosting

NAICS

Wired Telecommunications Carriers (517111), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) & Peering Services (HDABALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Managed Network Services (NOC, Monitoring, Optimization) (BPAEAEAC), Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) (HDAFAFAA)

Keywords

• Dedicated servers
• Managed hosting
• Colocation services
• IP transit
• IT infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Merzig

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dedicated/Max Performance Servers: Sale of high-performance dedicated servers with customizable hardware, starting from €159/month for Max1 to €369/month for Max4. One-time setup fees may apply.
2. Managed Servers: Fully managed servers including monitoring, security, updates, and support. Pricing from €219-€429/month with €99 setup fee. Higher tiers include HA SLA.
3. Colocation: Housing of customer equipment in company datacenters. Options include 10U (1/4 rack), 21U (1/2 rack), and 45U (full rack) with various uplink speeds. 12-month minimum contract.
4. IP Connectivity & Transit: Connectivity services including BGP full table, IPv6 native, blackholing for DDoS mitigation. Available in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg, London.
5. Plesk Software Licensing: Rental licenses for Plesk web administration interface starting at €7/month including updates and support
6. Managing Services: Standard and Enhanced managed services levels covering security, web/ftp/mail/dns servers, OS maintenance, and domain management
7. Field Engineering Services: On-site support services in Germany, Luxembourg, France, Belgium for router installation, troubleshooting, rack-and-stack, VoIP, and circuit deployment

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Probe Networks delivers customized dedicated servers, fully managed servers, colocation, and IP transit services across multiple European datacenters. The company builds, burn-in tests, and operates its own Juniper-powered redundant backbone with metro dark fiber in Frankfurt, offering DDoS-protected connectivity, IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack, BGP sessions, and 24x7 managed support to e-business customers across Germany, Netherlands, UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France.

Product overview

Probe Networks is a German IT infrastructure and managed services provider founded in 2002, offering a portfolio of interconnected hosting and connectivity services. The core offering consists of dedicated servers (Max Performance Servers) and fully managed servers (Managed Servers), which can be combined with colocation across European datacenters (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Luxembourg) and IP connectivity/transit with full BGP routing. These core products are complemented by optional Plesk rental licenses as the management interface, and supported by a layered services stack: Consulting, Support Services, Managing Services, and Field Engineering — all backed by two SLA tiers (Standard 99.9% and HA 99.999%). The company operates its own redundant European backbone with peering at DE-CIX and KleyRex, using Juniper Networks routing hardware.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Max Performance Servers Custom-built dedicated servers with hand-selected highest-quality components, burn-in tested, modular design, optimized BIOS/firmware for maximum I/O performance. Available in Max1-Max4 configurations with Intel Xeon processors, configurable SATA3/NVMe storage, RAID options, full root access, and free choice of operating system. Pricing from €159/month.
• Managed Servers Fully managed dedicated servers where Probe Networks handles setup, configuration, 24x7 monitoring, IDS/IDP security, daily external backups, and ongoing administration. Available in four tiers (Managed 1-4) with Intel Xeon processors, RAID configurations, and SLA-backed support. Pricing from €219/month with €99 setup.
• Colocation Colocation for 19-inch server equipment across multiple European datacenter locations (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Luxembourg), offering partial racks (10U/21U), full racks (45U), and custom cages/suites. Includes redundant power, cooling, network connectivity up to 100 Gbps, 24x7 access, remote hands, and optional DDoS protection with blackholing/Nullrouting.
• IP Connectivity & Transit Network connectivity and IP transit services connecting customer equipment to Probe Networks' backbone. Includes BGP full routing table, native IPv6, BGP communities for path manipulation, blackholing for DDoS mitigation, optional AS registration, and IP space provisioning. Available in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Luxembourg, and London with multiple SLA/MTTR tiers.
• Plesk Rental Licenses Monthly rental licenses for the Plesk web administration interface, a multilingual server management panel with IPv6 support. Includes updates, support from Probe Networks, optional installation, and add-ons such as Helpdesk, Tomcat, Antivirus, Spamassassin, Application Vault, and Gameserver. Starting at €7/month.
• Consulting IT consulting covering hardware (server/network upgrades, migration, installation), software (OS changes, data migration), security (network/server/software security analysis), maintenance, IPv4-to-IPv6 migration, and staff coaching/training. Available 24x7 with on-site or remote delivery.
• Support Services 24x7/365 support service for Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD environments covering hardware and software troubleshooting. Contact methods include phone, fax, online chat, ticket system, and email. On-site field services and multilingual support (German, English, French) available.
• Managing Services Two-tier managed services: Standard level (security updates, web/FTP/mail/DNS server administration, OS management, domain registration) and Enhanced level (24x7 emergency support with SLA, pro-active monitoring, custom software installation/configuration).
• Field Engineering On-site field engineering and remote hands services in Germany, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, and other locations on request. Services include router installation and troubleshooting (Cisco, Juniper, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Silver Peak), rack-and-stack, IT assessments, VoIP migration/installation, and temporary failover circuit deployment.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.9%-99.999% network and power availability
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• RIPE NCCcoreTechnology or IntegrationProbe Networks is a member of RIPE NCC (RIPE Network Coordination Centre), the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, Middle East, and parts of Central Asia. This membership enables the company to receive IP address allocations directly.
• ECO Verband der InternetwirtschaftminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember of the German Internet industry association (ECO), which represents and supports the digital economy in Germany.
• DE-CIXcoreTechnology or IntegrationMember of DE-CIX (Deutscher Commercial Internet Exchange), one of the world's largest internet exchanges located in Frankfurt.
• KleyReX ConnectedcoreTechnology or IntegrationMember of KleyReX (Kleyerrex) internet exchange in Frankfurt, providing additional peering capabilities.
• Juniper NetworkscoreTechnology or IntegrationProbe Networks uses routers from Juniper Networks for their backbone infrastructure, ensuring high-quality networking equipment.
• Print-ID GmbH & Co. KGminorOthersPrint-ID is a provider of print products including card printers, label printers and accessories. They offer solutions for plastic card printing (monochrome to retransfer printing with chip card coding) and label printing.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Leaseweb: Dutch-based infrastructure provider offering dedicated servers, colocation, public cloud, and CDN/IP transit across 20+ datacenters globally. Most direct peer by combining dedicated servers, colocation, and IP transit under one brand; significantly larger footprint but same product triad.
• Telehouse: KDDI-owned colocation and managed-services operator with European datacenters including Frankfurt and London locations where Probe Networks houses equipment. Direct peer on colocation and connectivity; broader portfolio of managed services.
• PlusServer: German managed hosting and cloud provider (part of BC Group / XSystem) offering dedicated, managed, and cloud servers plus colocation. Closest mid-market German peer to Probe on the managed-services and dedicated-server bundle.
• Hetzner Online: German-headquartered hosting provider offering dedicated servers, managed servers, cloud, and colocation across Germany, Finland, and the US. Closest direct competitor to Probe Networks by product mix (dedicated + managed + colocation + transit), German HQ, and SMB/mid-market positioning.
• Colt Technology Services: European network and IP transit provider with datacenters across major EU cities. Overlaps Probe on IP transit, Ethernet connectivity, and managed network services; broader enterprise footprint but comparable connectivity-first value proposition.
• OVHcloud: French cloud and bare-metal provider with dedicated servers, hosted private cloud, and colocation across Europe and globally. Competes head-to-head with Probe on dedicated servers, managed hosting, and European IP transit; significantly larger scale but overlapping mid-market segment.
• IONOS (1&1): German-rooted hosting and cloud provider serving SMBs with dedicated servers, VPS, and managed hosting. Comparable customer segment and German regulatory context to Probe Networks; broader product portfolio but overlapping dedicated-server and managed-service offerings.
• Global Switch: European and APAC carrier-neutral colocation operator with major facilities in Amsterdam and London that Probe Networks references as datacenter locations. Direct competitor on colocation and connectivity for European enterprise customers.

Broad incumbents

• Digital Realty (Interxion): Global colocation and interconnection giant; merged with Interxion, which Probe Networks uses in Frankfurt (Hanauer Landstrasse 312) and Amsterdam (Interxion 1 and 4). Directly competes on colocation and peering while also being an upstream datacenter provider.
• Equinix: Global colocation and interconnection leader; Probe Networks actually leases space at Equinix FR5 and FR7 in Frankfurt. Equinix is both a peer (colocation and cross-connect services) and a supplier/landlord; far larger but overlapping carrier-neutral colocation value proposition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/probe-networks

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Probe Networks