What is Usenet Retention? How much Binary & Text Retention do you need?

retention strategy

When you start your quest to find the Best Usenet Service, you will come across many terms, and one of them is Usenet Retention. It’s one of those terms which deserves your attention because it’s the retention period that will determine how much content you will have access on your Usenet service. 

If you have no idea what retention is, then don’t worry because we have got you covered. In this comprehensive guide, we will answer some very important questions such as: What is Usenet Retention? How much Retention period do I really need? And many more. Let’s dive right into it.

What is Usenet Retention?

Usenet Retention is basically the duration during which you can access newsgroups on news server. Let’s say that you have chosen a Usenet service that offers the retention period of 4000 days or 10 years. Now, any post which is posted today, it will remain accessible to anyone on your Usenet service provider’s network for the 4000 days or 10 years. Once the period ends, that post expires from the news server, and hence it will become unavailable. 

Binary Retention vs. Text Retention

what is usenet retention

During your quest, you will also come across the terms: Binary Retention & Text Retention. Binary Retention is basically the ability of the server to store the binary files for a specific period. It includes multimedia files, spreadsheets and other types of files. Text Retention is the ability of the server to store text files for a specific period. 

As binary files are larger in size than the text files, they take more space on the news server. So, many Usenet service providers often have a different retention period for binary and text files. However, major Usenet service providers such as UsenetServer and Easynews have the same binary and text retention period.

How does Usenet Serves Save File?

You may know that Usenet is a network of several networks that are scattered across the world. Whenever a post is added on a  news server, it gets transferred to the other servers around the world using the process called propagation. Once this process is completed, the subscribers of Usenet service providers can access these files. However, their ability to access these files depends on the retention period. If you are interested in learning about the Usenet, you can check our What is Usenet where we have discussed the Usenet in detail.

Why is the Retention Period important?

Now you must be wondering why is the retention period so important. And why Usenet Service providers don’t offer unlimited Retention? Let’s take a look at both questions individually.

Let’s start with the first question. Retention Period is very important because it guarantees the users that they can access their favorite content for a specified period. Now, when it comes to Retention, the good Usenet service providers honor their claim, and they offer the complete Retention, but some of them don’t honor their claim and offer the partial retention period. For example, if they claim that they offer the retention period of 4000 days, but in reality, they offer the 2000 days of the retention period, then it will be considered partial Retention, and it will be a sign that the service isn’t good.

However, our recommended Usenet service providers do offer the complete retention period. For example, UsenetServer is our Number 1 recommended Usenet service, and it offers the retention period of days, and in our tests, its retention period was complete. Similarly, Easynews is another trusted Usenet service, and it also offers a retention period of 4377 days. We also tested the Easynews service, and in our tests, its retention period was complete. So, the retention period tells a lot about the company; if the retention period isn’t complete or lower, then it’s a sign that the Usenet service is not good.

Now, let’s discuss the second question: Why Usenet Service doesn’t offer an unlimited retention period? The simple answer to this question is the cost. As Usenet is used by millions of users around the world, these users add a lot of data to the platform daily, and Usenet service providers spend a lot of money to store the data. Many Usenet service providers have their own Data centers where they store all the data, which allows them to maintain the quality of the service. Still, it also costs thousands of dollars per day in terms of maintenance. 

Even large companies such as Google, Microsoft, and others struggle to maintain the data, that’s why they have limits. For example, Google Drive comes with a limit of 15 GB, and if you store more data, then you will be charged for additional storage. 

So, storing the data is a very difficult and expensive operation. That’s why Usenet service providers have these limits in place to control the cost. However, as the data compression technologies are improving, Usenet service providers are expanding their retention period.

How much Retention Period do I really need?

Now that you know what the retention period is, the next question is: How much retention period do you really need? The simple answer to this question is that it depends on your requirements.

Normally, the popular Usenet service providers offer the retention period of more than 4000+ days, and it roughly equates to 10 years, which is surely a very long period. In most cases, the retention period of 10 years is enough for most users as they can easily retrieve up to 10 years of content. 

So, if you are not sure how much retention period you need, you can simply go with a Usenet company, which offers the retention period of more than 4000 days. Also, these service providers are constantly expanding their Usenet retention period, so in the future, you will receive a longer retention period. For example, UsenetServer currently has the Retention of 4377 days, and a few months ago, it was around 3569 days. Similarly, other popular Usenet services are also continuously increasing their retention period, so if you pick a good Usenet service provider, then you won’t have to worry about the retention period. 

How to pick a Usenet service provider with a good retention period?

There are dozens of Usenet service providers out there, and almost all of them claim to be the best, but in reality, they all don’t provide what they say they do. So, if you want to pick a Usenet service provider, the first thing you need to do is read the review of your selected Usenet service provider. Make sure they offer a Usenet Search feature.

If you have no idea where to start, then you can check our list of Best Usenet Service Providers and start reading the reviews. As we are an independent review website, all of the reviews are written after independently testing the service. So, you can be sure that you will get the correct information in the reviews.

If you are completely new to the Usenet, then you will surely have some questions. If so, then make sure to check our Usenet FAQ section, where we have explained everything you need to know about the Usenet in detail. In the end, you will also need to decide which type of subscription you want. You will have the option to either go with a monthly subscription or Block account. As both packages have their pros and cons, we would recommend reading our guide, where we have explained everything in detail.

Conclusion

Now you know about the  and why you should consider it when selecting your next Usenet service. However, it’s not the only factor which you should consider. Instead, you will also need to consider the overall customer support, security and features as well. You can check our reviews of Best Usenet Providers, where we have discussed these factors in detail.