gistfile1.txt

awk -F, '/authid=/{print $3}' maillog | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn > sorted
 
 
Timestamps with a counter
awk -F, '/authid=aaa/{print $1 $3}' maillog maillog.1 | awk '++a { print $3 " " a}'
 
Connections per hour displayed
awk -F, '/authid=aaa/{print $1 $3}' maillog | awk '{ print $3}' | awk -F: '{print $1":00"}' | uniq -c
 
Connections per minute displayed
awk -F, '/authid=aaa/{print $1 $3}' maillog | awk '{ print $3}' | awk -F: '{print $1":"$2}' | uniq -c
 
Connections per second displayed
awk -F, '/authid=aaa/{print $1 $3}' maillog | awk '{ print $3}' | awk -F: '{print $1":"$2":"$3}' | uniq -c
 
 
Append | awk '{print $2" "$1}' | sort to flip the time and the count for plotting