![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](/images/HDR-LISTSERV-sm.gif)
There are many possible ways to measure the relative "importance" or "size" of LISTSERV sites: number of lists, number of subscribers, number of messages delivered, etc. In most cases, the number of messages delivered is used to rank mailing list managers, because it is the most accurate measurement of the amount of activity on the server. But, depending on what you are looking for, other variables may be more appropriate. There are currently three LISTSERV "Top 20" lists, ranking the various servers according to:
In addition, you can view a list of the Top 20 lists in the network (by number of subscribers).
The statistics are gathered daily by a monitor at L-Soft which polls all the LISTSERV sites that participate in the "open" LISTSERV network over the worldwide Internet. Corporate servers operating in a "closed" environment are not included.
The statistics are organized in monthly reports. The message volume figures are a flat average of the accumulated traffic for the entire month. Thus, a server that delivers 300,000 messages per month will show a daily average of 10,000 messages. In practice, there is a lot less traffic during the weekend, and even during business days there can be significant fluctuations (~30%). The list statistics (number of lists, number of subscribers, largest lists in the network) are measured as of the last day in the month.
For the current month, the message volume figures are averaged based on the number of days that have elapsed. In practice, the figures are not very meaningful in the first few days, especially if the month starts on a weekend. In that case it is best to refer to the previous month for more accurate figures.
A fourth "Top 20" list is available for the more technically oriented: Number of messages generated by the server. This corresponds to the number of mail messages created by the server while processing postings to its mailing lists. LISTSERV delivers its mail using an intelligent mail delivery function called DISTRIBUTE, which improves mail delivery times and reduces bandwidth usage by spreading the delivery chore over scores of participating servers. Each of these servers processes the recipients for its service area (typically its organization or campus). In most cases, DISTRIBUTE simply alters the manner in which the mail is delivered, and the number of messages forwarded to other sites for optimized delivery is roughly equal to the number of messages received by other sites for the same purpose. In some cases, however, this is not the case, either because the server elected to serve a much wider service area than its own organization, or because it is explicitly forwarding all its deliveries to another machine (for instance, many mainframe-based servers forward their mail to a workstation or PC for delivery).
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 886932 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-308.1.1.el5xen) 2 466868 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 461015 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem) 4 433625 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 5 429746 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 6 337987 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 7 319944 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 8 312490 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5) 9 282896 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 10 277603 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 270435 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 12 255714 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 13 235506 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-164.el5) 14 227353 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 15 221054 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 16 217966 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 205492 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen) 18 199351 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen) 19 187434 LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 20 184214 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.9.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3541660 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 2 3255136 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5) 3 1301811 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 4 1255735 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1200871 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp) 7 1160056 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 8 1125409 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp) 9 1069503 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 10 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 11 1048109 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 12 935523 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 13 919788 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 913919 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 870442 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 16 815112 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0) 17 814906 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen) 18 808369 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 19 800657 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.33.1.ELsmp) 20 773418 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 32643 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 29956 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 23075 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 12409 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp) 6 11361 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp) 7 9605 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 8 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 9 7643 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5) 10 6574 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 6462 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 12 6144 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 6029 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen) 14 5863 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 15 5840 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 4920 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 17 4874 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 18 4371 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 19 4013 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 20 3907 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 461970 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 2 447693 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem) 3 423164 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 4 403699 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 5 330709 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 6 315889 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 7 312852 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5) 8 280895 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 9 268403 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 266981 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 235376 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-164.el5) 12 226939 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 13 222264 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 14 220255 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 15 216763 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 201080 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen) 17 186798 LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 18 184678 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen) 19 184455 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.9.ELsmp) 20 173501 MAIL.NACBA.ORG (Linux 2.6.26-2-amd64)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 238502 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.54-0.2-default) 2 86994 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 3 74965 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 72327 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 66551 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 62026 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 61273 GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 52803 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 52665 COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 10 51652 UICNEWS@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 11 50076 FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 44053 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 13 43527 STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 37250 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 36938 SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 16 36636 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36452 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 35744 FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 34608 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 34584 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)