More then just where the server is location changed. We went from a i7 4790k @ 4.7ghz in dallas, to a i7 6700k @ 4.7ghz in new york. We are also switch from a fixed carrier datacenter, to a carrier neutral datacenter. This means we will no longer get affected when others on the network get ddos'ed, we get our on direct connect to backbone carriers. We also have a new SSD with 2x the storage, this allows more room for our map in the future. I changed the ways we do backups as well, backup times went from 700-800 seconds down to 10-20 seconds, this means less stress on the network and the ssd. We also upgraded to 1.10.

The vanilla minecraft server was originally part of the client, coded for desktop hardware. It does not take advantage of anything Xeon/Server grade cpu's have to offer, (core count, large ram amounts, ecc ram). Xeon Cpu's are usually lower clocked, more expensive and can't be overclocked. Minecraft really only makes use of 1 core, so doing everything possible is to make that one core perform as best as it can is important.

As you can see by the current cpu usage of the server, we are really only making use of one core:

Also, we are also only using about 10gb of ram with, 60+ players on so no need for a server with 64/128gb or ram.

There's many more reasons I choose the host and equipment that we run the server on including the support I get from our host as well as the ability to customize any of the hardware that goes into our server.