Usenet access was one of the very first things that Sonoma Interconnect (SONIC) provided when Scott and I launched the service in 1994. Back then, “Sonic.net” provided dialup Linux shell access, with access to email, FTP, telnet, Gopher, and Usenet discussion groups. The Usenet feed was delivered to a single dedicated Linux server via a satellite downlink at 19.2kbps, and the content was stored on a RAID array of a couple full-height 5.25″ hard disk drives. We were able to retain text content for months, and binary content for a few weeks.

Today a Usenet full feed is over 24TB (terabytes) of content per day, requiring a significant amount of equipment, bandwidth, power and staff to manage a complete Usenet service. Sonic’s current platform simply cannot keep up, and has a significant cost to maintain as older hardware fails. And today, only about 300 Sonic members use Usenet, so it is not viable to make a significant investment in a new Usenet platform, when far better commercial Usenet services are available elsewhere. (Put another way: it is better to put our limited financial and staff resources into building more last-mile fiber infrastructure, rather than replicating a free or commercial Usenet service which can be found elsewhere online. Binary access can be purchased from a variety of online Usenet service providers.)

Sonic members can find free text-only Usenet access at:
http://groups.google.com/
http://www.eternal-september.org/

(Never heard of Usenet? You’re not alone! Most Internet users see “the Internet” as simply websites, email, and apps. To learn about the Usenet, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet)

-Dane