Summary of Smallberg surveys
A table of how many hosts answered Telnet, FTP and mail server probes in early 1983.
Westine, A., Smallberg, D., and J. Postel, "Summary of Smallberg surveys", RFC 847, DOI 10.17487/RFC0847, February 1983, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc847>.
@misc{rfc847,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 847,
howpublished = {RFC 847},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0847},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc847},
author = {A. Westine and D. Smallberg and J. Postel},
title = {{Summary of Smallberg surveys}},
pagetotal = 2,
year = 1983,
month = feb,
} RFC text
Network Working Group A. Westine
Request for Comments: 847 D. Smallberg
J. Postel
February, 1983
SUMMARY OF SMALLBERG SURVEYS
This is a summary of the surveys of Telnet, FTP and Mail (SMTP)
servers conducted by David Smallberg in December 1982 and January
and February 1983 as reported in RFC 832-843, 845-846. This memo
extracts the number of hosts that accepted the connection to
their server for each of Telnet, FTP, and SMTP, and compares it
to the total host in the Internet (not counting TACs or ECHOS).
One would not expect the percentage to reach 100, since some
hosts will be down when the surveys are run, but many hosts are
for special purposes and don't offer these services. We estimate
that 37 hosts or 11 percent are in this catagory and the highest
percentage one could reasonably expect is 89.
TELNET
RFC DATE ACCEPT TOTAL PERCENT
--- ---- ------ ----- -------
832 7 Dec 82 83 315 26
833 14 Dec 82 103 314 33
834 22 Dec 82 102 314 32
835 28 Dec 82 95 314 30
836 4 Jan 83 151 315 48
837 11 Jan 83 171 323 53
838 18 Jan 83 172 323 53
839 25 Jan 83 182 323 56
842 1 Feb 83 183 382 48
843 8 Feb 83 187 329 57
845 15 Feb 83 176 329 53
846 22 Feb 83 190 325 56
FTP
RFC DATE ACCEPT TOTAL PERCENT
--- ---- ------ ----- -------
832 7 Dec 82 70 315 26
833 14 Dec 82 90 314 29
834 22 Dec 82 80 314 25
835 28 Dec 82 80 314 25
836 4 Jan 83 132 315 42
837 11 Jan 83 153 323 47
838 18 Jan 83 159 323 49
839 25 Jan 83 165 323 51
842 1 Feb 83 170 328 52
843 8 Feb 83 174 389 45
845 15 Feb 82 169 329 51
846 22 Feb 83 181 325 56
SMTP
RFC DATE ACCEPT TOTAL PERCENT
--- ---- ------ ----- -------
832 7 Dec 82 63 315 20
833 14 Dec 82 82 314 26
834 22 Dec 82 82 314 26
835 28 Dec 82 72 314 23
836 4 Jan 83 124 315 39
837 11 Jan 83 145 323 45
838 18 Jan 83 154 323 48
839 25 Jan 83 159 323 49
842 1 Feb 83 169 328 52
843 8 Feb 83 170 329 52
845 15 Feb 83 169 329 51
846 22 Feb 83 178 325 55
AI ELI5
On this page
§1What the Surveys Measured
RFC 847 summarizes surveys of Telnet, FTP and Mail (SMTP) servers that David Smallberg ran in December 1982 and January and February 1983. The individual reports are RFC 832 to 843 and RFC 845 to 846.
For each survey the memo records the number of hosts that accepted the connection to their server and compares it with the total number of hosts in the Internet, not counting TACs or ECHOs.
Someone knocked on every computer's door each week to see which ones would open it, and this memo lists the counts.
§2Why 100 Percent Is Not Expected
The authors say one would not expect the percentage to reach 100. Some hosts will be down when a survey runs, and many hosts are for special purposes and do not offer these services.
They estimate that 37 hosts, or 11 percent, are in that special-purpose category, so the highest percentage one could reasonably expect is 89.
Some computers are switched off and some were never meant to answer the door, so nobody expected every single one to reply.
§3The Survey Tables
There is one table for each service. Each row gives the RFC number, the date, the number of hosts that accepted, the total, and the percentage.
For Telnet, the first survey (RFC 832, 7 Dec 82) shows 83 of 315 hosts, 26 percent, and the last (RFC 846, 22 Feb 83) shows 190 of 325, 56 percent. The highest Telnet percentage in the table is 57, from RFC 843 (8 Feb 83). For FTP the first row is 70 of 315 (26 percent) and the last is 181 of 325 (56 percent). For SMTP the first row is 63 of 315 (20 percent) and the last is 178 of 325 (55 percent).
All three kinds of door got more and more answers from the first week to the last week.
| Service | 7 Dec 82 (RFC 832) | 22 Feb 83 (RFC 846) |
|---|---|---|
| Telnet | 83 of 315 (26%) | 190 of 325 (56%) |
| FTP | 70 of 315 (26%) | 181 of 325 (56%) |
| SMTP | 63 of 315 (20%) | 178 of 325 (55%) |