Netsplit.de - IRC statistics
Created | Updated Apr 21, 2002
What is netsplit.de?
Netsplit is a service for IRC users everywhere, providing statistics on almost all of the IRC networks of the world, including information on user count, number of channels and servers.
Netsplit.de was started in August 1998 by Andreas Gelhausen, at first only logging data once per day. The service now gathers statistics every three hours on 397 networks1.
The information is presented in the form of a website, displaying detailed breakdowns of the statistics by time of day and by IRC network.
You can find out what IRC is along with some background information which may make this entry clearer here.
Why is it called netsplit?
A 'netsplit' an event common to IRC networks, when servers on a network disconnect causing a large number of fragmented groups of servers. This can be caused by a linking server crashing or an ISP getting attacked. Netsplit.de has been named rather ironicly after IRCs biggest fault.
How does it collect data?
Netsplit uses a dummy IRC client based on a dedicated machine to connect to each network and record the values it sees. This information is updated every three hours. The client that connects is called Tunix##, where ## is two random numbers.
What can netsplit.de do for you?
Some of the functions offered include comparing networks against each other to see how their user base has changed over time. This can be useful if you wish to keep up todate with the latest struggle for the number one spot; for example IRCnet and DALnet are at the time of writing battling it out for the title of el supremo IRC network.
If you run an IRC network then the statistics service can help show potential users that you are running a vibrant and growing community rather than a decaying old network2.
How can I get there?
You can access the main page here: Netsplit.de
Or you can look up the DALnet versus IRCnet chart here: DALnet vs IRCnet
1397 networks as of 21st April 2002.2Of course if you are runninng a decaying old network this wont help you much.
