[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – April 2012


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 (APR12, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     958628  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-308.1.1.el5xen)
  2     522080  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     436903  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  4     411589  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  5     402062  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  6     353288  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
  7     314224  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     307140  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     291679  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 10     289707  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 11     274131  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12     263467  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     245858  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 14     231811  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)
 15     222002  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16     216925  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17     208167  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen)
 18     194043  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 19     193222  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 20     191402  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (29 Apr 2012)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3873216  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5)
  2     3630874  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     1305032  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
  4     1301371  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  5     1203029  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  6     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  7     1157293  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     1117389  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp)
  9     1070879  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     1037330  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 12      972351  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 13      932912  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 14      922864  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15      905898  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 16      898527  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 17      858782  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)
 18      841359  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.54-0.2-default)
 19      834400  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 20      804776  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (29 Apr 2012)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 32513  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 29911  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3 26150  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5 12334  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp)
  6 11320  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  9571  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
  9  7640  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5)
 10  6690  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6562  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12  6434  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13  6372  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 14  6008  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)
 15  5855  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16  5354  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
 17  4866  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18  4362  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 19  4005  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 20  3911  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (APR12, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     516369  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  2     424948  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  3     393631  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  4     391980  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  5     343858  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp)
  6     311251  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     302533  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  8     287815  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
  9     287310  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 10     273001  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 11     238172  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12     230569  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     227565  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen)
 14     217425  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 15     211806  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 16     196292  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen)
 17     193330  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 18     189557  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 19     189448  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 20     189317  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (SunOS 5.9)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (29 Apr 2012)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      237175  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       65096  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
  7       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       59382  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       52485  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 11       51747  UICNEWS@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 12       50076  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 14       43548  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 16       36938  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 17       36636  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18       36452  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 19       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20       34804  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)