[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – March 2001


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 (MAR01, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    4490818  CHEWBACCA1.YESMAIL.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    3203113  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3    2448795  LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4    1487774  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7)
  5    1306936  LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6    1009715  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     704373  LS.OPTHOST.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     632018  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9     506853  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     457822  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6)
 11     448830  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     432264  LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7)
 13     407133  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     362450  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 15     357904  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 16     325269  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16)
 17     312348  LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     276291  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     275040  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16)
 20     265342  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Mar 2001)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     6086770  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     4866051  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     4843000  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     3067161  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     2245517  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     2134405  LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     1490398  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  9     1296688  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      853382  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 11      614271  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 12      560769  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13      550677  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 14      483180  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      471441  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      471241  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 17      440068  ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      424233  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 19      313778  DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20      301834  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Mar 2001)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1  8613  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2  4138  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  3  4034  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6)
  4  3480  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  5  3108  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  6  2950  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  7  2818  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8  2644  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9  2638  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  2593  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 11  2004  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  1984  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 13  1879  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14  1861  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 15  1828  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 16  1741  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17  1689  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 18  1686  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 19  1616  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 20  1590  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAR01, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    2331220  LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    1482562  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7)
  3    1006301  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4    1000546  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     794606  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     672256  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     559132  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     452883  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6)
  9     432264  LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7)
 10     417482  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 11     392391  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16)
 12     376026  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13     365654  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 14     348835  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     339025  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 16     315381  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16)
 17     312041  LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     262145  ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     262026  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     248078  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Mar 2001)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      447493  HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      287017  HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      272865  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      258338  REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      256215  SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      237877  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      226384  FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      159414  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 11      145798  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7)
 12      139594  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      128329  OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      127671  VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      126680  THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      124819  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      116874  WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      112562  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19      111367  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       94074  MONEYDAILY@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)