Usenet in Depth: Retention

Retention is one of the most important features for a usenet provider. Simply put, retention is the number of usenet articles that a server stores and makes available to users. Each usenet server has a set amount of storage, much like a home computer. The amount of usenet article data that is able to be stored is the retention, which is usually expressed as a number of days. 650 days of binary retention means that the hardware is capable of storing 650 days worth of binary articles.

Usenet RetentionAll of the usenet posts made each day are collectively known as  the “usenet feed”. The usenet feed is constantly growing as more and more articles are posted daily. Depending on whom you ask, the usenet feed is currently around 4-6 TB per day, which is a staggering amount of data. The hardware costs for a redundant, secured system to handle that kind of storage is a massive capital expense and the primary reason that usenet providers simply can’t have unlimited retention, or keep all articles forever.

There are two primary types of retention that customers should be concerned with, text group retention and binary group retention. Different types of groups offer different amounts of retention because the storage needs are significantly different. The average message size in a binary group is much larger than the average message size in a text group, not to mention the larger number of articles posted to a binary group. As of this writing NewsgroupDirect offers around 4.5 years of text retention and nearly 2 years of binary retention.

One downside to the increasing retention in the usenet world is in how articles are accessed. When retention was much lower it was possible to simply download all of the headers for a given group and then decide what messages you wanted to download or open. Now, just retrieving the headers for some groups can take several hours. As retention grows it becomes increasingly difficult to manage within a newsreader. Some modern usenet additions, such as message-id searching, have allowed newsreaders to circumvent the large amount of data now present.

Affiliate Sales Contest

The affiliate team at NewsgroupDirect is excited to announce a new sales contest. We’re now going to offer a $500 bonus to the affiliate with the highest earnings each month. The second place affiliate will get $100. The contest is open to both new and existing affiliates. If you have a site with traffic and would like to earn some extra cash then signup for an affiliate account and get started. This contest replaces the existing affiliate rewards program until otherwise noted.

About the NewsgroupDirect Affiliate Program

The NewsgroupDirect affiliate program is the best in the usenet industry because we offer the highest payouts at 70% and make payments once you earn $50. You can see all the details in the affiliate area of our website.

Announcing the Yearly Unlimited Sale

For the next week we’re offering our yearly Unlimited usenet accounts for $120/year. That’s 12 months of usenet at a great rate of $10/month. The sale runs from October 29 to November 4, 2010. Existing customers are also eligible to upgrade to a yearly unlimited account. Simply login to your account, click Upgrade, and choose the yearly plan.

This is a great opportunity to lock in this low rate for life. Contact us if you have any questions or find us on Twitter @newsgroupdirect.

Please note: Existing yearly unlimited customers are not eligible to receive the sale price.

Free Usenet For Your Friends

We’ve just released an exciting new feature for our Unlimited usenet customers. Now our Unlimited customers have 10 invites that they can send to friends, family, or anyone else. Those invites can be redeemed by the recipient for a free usenet account. The free accounts are good for 3 months and allow 20 GB of access per month.

To send an invite simply login to your account and enter the email address of the person you’d like to invite.

Existing customers are not eligible for a free account. Also, no more than 1 account per household, please.

As always, if you have any questions about the invite accounts you can contact our support team at support.newsgroupdirect.com or catch us on Twitter @newsgroupdirect.

NewsgroupDirect Block Blowout Sale – 50% Off

We’ve decided to do something that we’ve never done before. We’re having a 50%-off sale on all of our block accounts. This is a great chance for you to stock up on block purchases at a great price. The sale runs from September 4, 12AM EST – September 12, 12AM EST. New customers can signup for an account and choose the 50 GB block option to get the discount. Existing customers can simply login to our website and add blocks at the discounted rate.

List of Block Sale Prices

  • 25 GB ~ $4.00
  • 50 GB ~ $7.50
  • 100 GB ~ $12.50
  • 200 GB ~ $20.00
  • 500 GB ~ $50.00

About NewsgroupDirect Block Accounts
Our block accounts are a simplified way to access usenet. There is no monthly subscription; you simply pay as you go. We offer a few different sizes for block accounts – the more you purchase the cheaper it is. Our blocks never expire, so you don’t have to worry about using your bandwidth or losing it.

Please Note: Existing coupons will not work during the sale. All block purchases will be made at the price listed on the website. Monthly subscription accounts will continue to bill as usual.

Binary Retention Now at 650 Days

We’re excited to announce that we just moved past 650 days of binary retention. NewsgroupDirect continues to push the envelope for usenet access, and this latest achievement further proves the point. We strive daily to provide the best service and features in the industry. The new retention is available immediately and is available to all of our accounts at no additional charge.

Retention is the number of days that a usenet post is stored on the usenet servers. 650 days of retention means that you will be able to see posts going back 650 days (nearly 2 years!) in binary groups. Text groups currently have over 1400 days of retention.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest news and updates about our service

3 Free Months for College Students

If you’re a college student and you’re strapped for cash (who isn’t?) then we’ve got a great solution for your usenet needs. We’re giving college students and faculty free accounts for 3 months. The free months can be used on any of our monthly subscription accounts, including our highly-rated unlimited account.

To get the free access simply enter coupon code ngdFall2010BTS on during the signup process on our site. You must use a .edu email address to qualify for the free months. Feel free to pass this coupon on to any of your friends or family in college.

College Student