EFNet Reaches 100,000 Concurrent Connections

Mortin writes "The largest IRC network in the world, EFNet, has set another world-record max user count after breaking an astonishing 100,000 concurrent users earlier tonight!"

Comments

Not necessarily good...

[David Price]

...after breaking an astonishing 100,000 concurrent users earlier tonight!

I sure hope they fixed them all afterward.

With the new Linux kernel...

[ralmeida]

...they can do it in 2 seconds!

DALNet anyone?

[bbuda]

According to their homepage, DALnet boasts 140,000 concurrent users. I'm not sure how each of these networks are measuring their numbers, but maybe this isn't quite a world record...

Re:DALNet anyone?

[AntiNorm]

But DALnet, as with any other network that reaches this size -- including EFnet -- has more than its fair share of problems. The lag and netsplits get intolerable at this level. Also, networks of this size can be difficult to connect to due to script kiddies, server overload, etc (or in the case of EFnet, yellowbellied admins who refuse to open up their I: lines). I personally know of large channels that have recently moved off of both networks because of these problems. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing that it has hit this size, but no network can handle infinite users. A userload like this brings out a network's weaknesses in full force.

Re:DALNet anyone?

[suss]

DALNet has just had a bad period of DDoS attacks, a couple of servers still haven't rejoined.
The attacks resolved themselves within about a week, when the IP for irc.dal.net was changed to 127.0.0.1, which turned the attacks on the kiddies themselves (quite hilarious).

By the way, most of the attacks seem to be coming from universities like Harvard, Emory, etc... You'd think they would have something better to do with their time.

Re:DALNet anyone?

[Dalroth]

By the way, most of the attacks seem to be coming from universities like Harvard, Emory, etc... You'd think they would have something better to do with their time.

Well, it's not like the college students at Harvard or Emory are doing the DDoS, it's the people (aka some pimply faced low-lifes still living in their parents basements without a job) who hacked into the Harvard/Emory machines that are the cause of the problem. It's also the fault of the Harvard/Emory admins for not noticing and not doing something to stop said attacks.

KaZaA

[Cryogenes]

has just broken the 3.000.000 concurrent users level
(that's twice what Napster had at its peak).

IRCnet is bigger

[erikdalen]

According to this statistics page, not only is IRCnet bigger than EFNet, but it also has had over 100,000 users for some time now.

/Erik

100,000 Connections, but...

[EQ]

90,000 of them were warez, mp3 and chan-op war bots. ;-)

What about Quakenet ?

[oPless]

www.quakenet.org

Currently Online: 109757
User Peak: 118855
(Sunday 15. September 2002)

Big Effin' woop.

And you know what...

[rbruels]

...it was a Saturday night! 100,000 geeks without social lives, tonight on EFnet! :P

Re:And you know what...

[Timmeh]

It's sad but true. Last night I was on IRC and a net-buddy was bemoaning that there wasn't anyone on any of the CS/DoD servers he frequents, saying that it being a Saturday night the servers should be packed. I said, if we were normal people that would be totally backwards, we'd all be out on dates. But since we're geeks, yeah that sounds about right. Then my brother walked in and said something funny about how he could cook an egg on his overclocked Athlon, and I in response I said, "Lol," instead of chuckling.

Dear god I need to get out more. :P

Utter Rubbish

[RussGarrett]

EFNet ceased to be the largest IRC network months ago. DALNet is now the largest net on average, but it's had problems with DoSes recently, so currently IRCNet is in the lead with 113,000 users and 51,000 channels. QuakeNet is also regularly larger than EFNet, which usually resides at the number 3 or 4 spot. See http://irc.netsplit.de/networks/ for the latest statistics.

I wish editors would check their facts before posting random sumbissions

Re:Utter Rubbish

[fault0]

Actually, EFNet ceased to be the largest network in mid-2000. IRCnet was the first network to overtake it, but both Undernet, DALnet also eventually overtook EFnet later in 2000. IRCnet has been pretty much the largest network since then, except for this summer when DALnet jumped ahead of it. Now, DALnet has had lots of DOS problems, so IRCnet is a bit ahead again.

Recently, Quakenet has grown to the point where it is alternating between being second between itself and DALnet.

The IRC History charts at the website you mentioned are very good. I would recommend looking at these:

Top Ten IRC networks in 1999
Top Ten IRC networks in 2000
Top Ten IRC networks in 2001
Top Ten IRC networks so far in 2002

Re:Utter Rubbish

[pongo000]

This article, along with crap such as this and this, simply proves /. editors are out-of-touch with what is really going on in geekdom and what can truly pass as "news for nerds". It's almost as if /. has outlived itself, or maybe it's time for some fresh blood who have a clue.

I'm sure the /. groupies will mod this down in record time, but to you I say: Get a life, stop being a follower, and use the energy you would otherwise use to get into a snit and start pressuring the /. editors to bring us meaningful, timely content.

Top irc networks

[MnO-BF]

Stating that EFNet is the largest irc-network in the world may be to take the mouth a little too full. EFNet havent been number one since the summer 2000. The big four (IRCNet, Dalnet, Undernet and EFNet), were for a long time the largest networks in the world, but recently (30th of May, 2002) QuakeNet (a gaming related irc-network) broke in to the big four, and mingled with the big guys. Since then it has really been the big five, with current standing:

1. IRCNet
2. QuakeNet
3. DALnet
4. Undernet
5. EFNet

This is only regarding average users though, when it comes to channels QuakeNet takes a clear first position with over 100k channels, probably due to its special audience. As stated in previous posts, Netsplit is an excellent place to keep track of such statistics.

Re:dang

[Jelque]

And you thought Efnet was dead or dying.

Gee, it's been bigger guys...

[droopus]

On the weekend of May 9-11 2002 both Spiderman and SWEP2 were released on various IRC channels. The sudden rise in channel populations was staggering: on Dal, #Newest-Movies went from a usual 450ppl to 1300; #VCDvault went from 350 to 1000; all the movie channels on Dalnet, Efnet and the XDCC chans on Criten.net were massively overfilled.

On May 10 2002 Dalnet reached a level of 139000+ concurrent users.See chart

The usual population of all major and minor IRC networks is just under a million. But on that weekend it was almost double. Seeing Efnet hit 100k isn't anything special. There are bigger networks, and events that make 100k users on Efnet seem ordinary.

I can't believe you guys put this yawner on the front page but rejected my PS2 Networked Divx player story, or even worse, my ultra-cool Enron Asset Auction story, which every geek on IRC is slobbering over.

Dear CmdrTaco...

[iolaire_in_swe]

Are you on crack? :)

Yours sincerely

iolaire, QuakeNet operator

iolaire@quakenet.org

PS:
-Q(TheQBot@CServe.quakenet.org)- Currently Active Users: 113025
-Q(TheQBot@CServe.quakenet.org)- Max Active Users: 118905 (Sunday, 2002-09-15 19:00:36)

given the number of trolls, bots, and so on...

[kipple]

...probably there are no more than a couple hundred users using IRC at the same time around the world. All the others are bots, fake, trolls, IA trying to understand the human beings, and so on...