[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – February 2010


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 (FEB10, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     508135  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen)
  2     467134  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     444629  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
  4     443850  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  5     417479  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  6     414059  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  7     362662  MAESTRO.INDEPENDENTTRAVELER.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  8     296646  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     273213  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     259896  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11     252023  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5)
 12     249301  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 13     248860  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 14     238804  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.319-s390x)
 15     227833  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 16     226805  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
 17     223003  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
 18     219477  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19     219101  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20     216122  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (28 Feb 2010)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     2347487  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  2     2196863  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp)
  3     1273680  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5)
  4     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5     1196085  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
  6     1131571  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0)
  7     1055499  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  8      949912  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  9      912984  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10      881686  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
 11      877292  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp)
 12      853737  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 13      821808  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
 14      796894  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15      791185  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 16      779464  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 17      752213  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 18      737048  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19      735625  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
 20      692161  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (28 Feb 2010)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 30183  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 26054  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3 19436  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5 10950  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5)
  6 10745  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp)
  7  8652  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
  8  8409  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
  9  6913  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-164.6.1.el5)
 10  6098  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  5878  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12  5408  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13  5391  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5236  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
 15  5224  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16  5182  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17  4441  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18  4393  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 19  3942  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 20  3642  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (FEB10, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     461239  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  2     433625  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
  3     427975  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4     405461  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  5     402424  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  6     293873  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     270189  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     253204  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  9     246798  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5)
 10     246787  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 11     245746  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 12     238285  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.319-s390x)
 13     219262  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp)
 14     217961  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 15     216133  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 16     215543  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17     213969  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 18     212334  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp)
 19     199029  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 20     198413  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (28 Feb 2010)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      193146  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.9-default)
  2      126259  MARKETPLACE@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  3       87887  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       77478  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       74005  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       67692  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       64699  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       45187  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       44610  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 11       43152  L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 12       43045  EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0)
 13       38579  PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 14       37128  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       36950  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 16       36772  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17       36598  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18       36585  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 19       34889  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20       34582  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)