Networks
There are thousands of running IRC networks in the world. They run various implementations of IRC servers, and are administered by various groups of IRC operators, but the protocol exposed to IRC users is very similar, and all IRC networks can be accessed by the same client software, although there might be slight incompatibilities and limited functionality due to the differing server implementations.
The largest IRC networks have traditionally been grouped as the "Big Four"— a designation for networks that top the statistics. The Big Four networks change periodically, but due to the community nature of IRC there are a large number of other networks for users to choose from.
Historically the "Big Four" were:
- EFnet
- IRCnet
- Undernet
- DALnet
IRC reached 6 million simultaneous users in 2001 and 10 million users in 2003.
As of March 2013 the largest IRC networks were:
- freenode - around 85k users at peak hours
- IRCNet - around 55k users at peak hours
- QuakeNet - around 53k users at peak hours
- Undernet - around 43k users at peak hours
- EFnet - around 33k users at peak hours
- rizon - around 20k users at peak hours
Today, entire IRC grouped has around 400k users at peak hours.
Read more about this topic: Internet Relay Chat Clients
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