BNC (software)

[1] One common usage is over Internet Relay Chat (IRC) via a BNC running on remote servers.

In such an environment, where it is very easy to ascertain a user's IP address a BNC may help to hide the original connection source, as well as providing the opportunity for "vhosts" or "virtual hosts".

Many BNCs remain connected to an IRC server in the event the client should disconnect from the Internet.

Several companies offer hosted IRC bouncer services: BNCs are also often used for File Transfer Protocol (FTP), again to hide the user and server from each other and to route traffic through a specific location.

Entry bouncers, like cubnc, can be used in a multiserver setup for easy access to each server and load balancing.

Scheme of an IRC network with normal clients (green), bots (blue) and bouncers (orange)