We are running a critical, high use, Windows IRCXPro network under very difficult network conditions (occasional/intermittent disconnects, times of high latency, bandwidth restrained - not broadband). I am considering shifting from IRCXPro to another server/demon for this capability due to server unstability (combination of network issues and administration issues). We have approximatly 500 users spread out over 12 servers, mIRC will be the client; *nix is preferred for the server, Windows is acceptable. Due to bandwidth concerns, XMPP is not an acceptable protocol. Stability, or the perception of stability, is critical.
What is the recommended server software (including IRC daemon/server settings) for this situation?
Are you 100% set on mIRC as the client?
Seems like this would be an ideal use case to have your clients SSH into the server itself (or another linux server), and run an IRC client of choice (I prefer isrssi) within GNU screen.
Screen will allow them to retain their session and re-connect if network issues arise. In addition, SSH in and of itself can be quite resilient to network latency and packet loss.