To narrow it down a bit, what I really need is a service which provides:

Managed dedicated servers
Good support
Co-Location
Cheap bandwidth (bw pricing similar to UnitedColo would be great)


Which will also allow the server to act as a usenet server/proxy. Most companies have clauses which rule out any use for "illegal purposes". Although usenet is not illegal, it has some grey areas.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
-t7

Originally posted by -t7-

Cheap bandwidth (bw pricing similar to UnitedColo would be great)


How about UnitedColo?

Aaron

They are very anal when it comes to anything in the grey area. I highly doubt they would tolerate a usenet server.


-t7

If your looking for someone cheap who is going to have a clue how to run that stuff good luck. If you want to pay realistic rates drop me a msg on aim/icq I know someone who can do usenet servers.

cheep and gray area have never gone well together.

I may be able to run the Usenet server myself, with the help of a few friends. My main concern is mass storage and inexpensive bandwidth. Without those two elements, a Usenet server won't survive.

I am not trying to compete with the "big boys" but would like to provide a nice "private" service to a few select members.

Right now I am shopping around to see if it is even viable to attempt such an endeavor.

Thanks,
-t7

have you considered RS or server beach ?

You do realize that full feed from UUnet for example will take about 3Mbps or so don't you? That is a massive amount of bandwidth, and you should be prepared to have several hundred gigabytes of storage unless you want to expire messages very quickly (under 24 hours). Just thought I might pass this along. :cartman:

You do realize that full feed from UUnet for example will take about 3Mbps or so don't you? That is a massive amount of bandwidth, and you should be prepared to have several hundred gigabytes of storage unless you want to expire messages very quickly (under 24 hours).

Yup, and that’s why I wouldn't even attempt such a thing without close to a terabyte of storage.

RS is not a viable option as their customer service leaves much to be desired.

Serverbeach seems to be less inclined than RS, not offering hardware upgrades.

Due the nature of the hosting, co-location seems the only realistic way as I will need at least 1 server and 1 data array.

Are there any other great co-location services worthy of mention?


Note: zerphyte, I have not seen you online yet, but would like to talk with you about prices etc.

Thanks,
-t7

You add the right info? I am only offline about ~2.5 hours a day while my laptop is on the train with me.

icq: 60856228
aim: uplink002

My personal opinion is that you find a colocation facility and get a quarter of a rack of space to store your server and external arrays for your storage and that can connect you to a cogent type service for tons of bandwidth, but I would definately find a place that can offer you a mix, because you don't want to be down. I don't know where you live, but there is a place down here (South Florida) that offers a quarter of a rack and 5Mbps for $300 and yes it is redundant. Let me know if you want the contact info.

Why not just get an account with a usenet provider, like Randori?

Because it looks like he wants to be the usenet provider.

Originally posted by DigitalIsles
You do realize that full feed from UUnet for example will take about 3Mbps or so don't you? That is a massive amount of bandwidth, and you should be prepared to have several hundred gigabytes of storage unless you want to expire messages very quickly (under 24 hours). Just thought I might pass this along. :cartman:


A FULL Usenet feed including binaries will take 30-40Mbps not 3Mbps. Last time I looked you were required to dedicate at least a full DS3 to get a link.

A non-binary feed is about 300Kbps.