Communication protocol | |
Abbreviation | IRC |
---|---|
Purpose | Instant messaging |
Developer(s) | Jarkko Oikarinen |
Introduction | August 1988 |
Influenced | IRCv3 (standards process working group) |
OSI layer | Application layer |
Port(s) | 6667, 6697 |
RFC(s) | RFC 1459 |
Internet protocol suite |
---|
Application layer |
Transport layer |
Internet layer |
Link layer |
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels,[1] but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages[2] as well as chat and data transfer,[3] including file sharing.[4]
Internet Relay Chat is implemented as an application layer protocol to facilitate communication in the form of text. The chat process works on a client–server networking model. Users connect, using a client—which may be a web app, a standalone desktop program, or embedded into part of a larger program—to an IRC server, which may be part of a larger IRC network. Examples of programs used to connect include Mibbit, IRCCloud, KiwiIRC, and mIRC.
IRC usage has been declining steadily since 2003, losing 60 percent of its users.[5] In April 2011, the top 100 IRC networks served more than 200,000 users at a time.[6]
pingdom
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).