[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – August 1999


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).

What do these numbers mean exactly?

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).


Top 20 sites by volume delivered daily (AUG99, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    3353713  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    1016961  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     701150  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     690747  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     576604  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     508937  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     409969  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  8     385027  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???)
  9     366366  SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10     289444  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
 11     258481  LISTSERV1.NYTIMES.COM (???)
 12     241618  LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 13     232398  AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 14     230637  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15     225191  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
 16     218153  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 17     211951  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     205655  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     201417  MORPHEUS.SURPLUSDIRECT.COM (???)
 20     195343  LISTSERV.ALLOYONLINE.COM (???)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Aug 1999)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     8452241  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     4953275  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     3597934  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     3040415  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     1972001  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     1753348  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1665618  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  8     1034940  LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9      616210  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 10      610654  MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      603376  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 12      570039  EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 13      535861  LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      436702  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      279500  MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      263532  LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      262044  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 18      260973  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
 19      251304  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 20      230004  SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Aug 1999)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1  7954  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  2  4972  LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3  2393  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  4  2388  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  5  2294  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  6  1928  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7  1858  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  8  1748  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
  9  1671  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10  1361  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 11  1315  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  1286  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13  1245  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 14  1231  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15  1191  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 16  1068  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17  1018  HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 18   996  VM.SC.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0)
 19   976  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 20   974  LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (AUG99, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    1175768  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     934275  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  3     911386  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     735239  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5     702895  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     666455  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     482534  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  8     390917  MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0)
  9     384116  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???)
 10     310998  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
 11     291554  AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 12     264367  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     260327  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 14     258481  LISTSERV1.NYTIMES.COM (???)
 15     253547  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 16     250949  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
 17     244390  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     241327  LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (???)
 19     240372  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 20     230848  NEWSHOST.NYTIMES.COM (???)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Aug 1999)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      280954  DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  2      263529  VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      234844  DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  4      224986  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      185318  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      133243  BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  7      127777  JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      126581  BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  9      110126  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      109001  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 11      105706  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      103260  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13       94382  SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14       92392  SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15       84521  SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 16       83482  SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17       72946  BVDAILYNOTE@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 18       68771  NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       66710  ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       63663  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)