[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 2011


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 (DEC11, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     795987  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-274.12.1.el5xen)
  2     363997  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     350145  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  4     303678  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  5     298380  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  6     243542  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
  7     207093  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
  8     206966  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  9     203126  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 10     197958  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     182050  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12     169937  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13     167039  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     165198  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 15     159122  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16     148276  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 17     142091  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.33.1.ELsmp)
 18     137982  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19     136530  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)
 20     134707  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Dec 2011)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3637599  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5)
  2     3098431  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     1308087  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  4     1292130  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1153855  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  7     1141262  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     1073965  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
  9     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 10     1057164  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp)
 11     1038461  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 12     1007968  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 13      943957  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 14      918571  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 15      911367  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16      889107  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 17      882444  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.54-0.2-default)
 18      879936  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 19      791951  LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 20      776557  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.33.1.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Dec 2011)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 35875  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 31659  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3 28475  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5 11809  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp)
  6 10757  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  7  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  8  9325  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
  9  7478  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5)
 10  6556  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11  6463  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12  6358  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13  5918  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 14  5916  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)
 15  5887  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16  5132  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
 17  4820  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18  4312  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 19  4106  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 20  3913  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC11, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1   59284014  LISTS.SCHOLARSHIPEXPERTS.COM (Linux 2.6.18-238.19.1.el5)
  2     358370  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     339037  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  4     288128  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  5     287852  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  6     234860  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
  7     200873  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  8     198551  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     194934  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     184617  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 11     179458  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12     169859  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13     163387  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 14     153899  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 15     147711  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 16     146194  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17     141393  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.33.1.ELsmp)
 18     136043  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
 19     133993  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20     131767  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Dec 2011)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      227718  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.54-0.2-default)
  2      132806  PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  3       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       74850  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       66550  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       62012  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       60971  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
  9       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       52316  UICNEWS@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 11       51258  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12       51151  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13       50076  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14       47001  JAGNEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 15       44033  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 16       43735  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17       37231  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 18       36939  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 19       36637  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 20       36455  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)