[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – March 2014


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 (MAR14, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     826261  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     485777  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  3     483579  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     342546  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  5     319718  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  6     306650  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     303879  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     295710  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  9     287415  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 10     261240  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 11     260246  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12     259057  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     255648  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     223895  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
 15     222605  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16     222490  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.18.1.el5)
 17     201764  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 18     189343  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 19     188807  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.6.1.el5PAE)
 20     187462  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Mar 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3748937  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  2     3742787  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     1551323  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4     1526036  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
  5     1511196  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  6     1351980  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  7     1343865  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  8     1250695  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  9     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 11      976275  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 12      966892  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 13      958935  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 14      936886  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15      889617  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 16      811838  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      761292  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82-0.7-default)
 18      759248  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
 19      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)
 20      743296  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Mar 2014)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 65818  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 33332  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 24982  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  4 12751  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  5 11172  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  6  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-164.11.1.el5)
  7  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  8  8660  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
  9  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 10  7059  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
 11  6648  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 12  6388  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  5994  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 14  5957  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 15  5789  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 16  4849  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4195  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3818  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 19  3800  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 20  3076  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32-52-generic)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAR14, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     803876  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     478411  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     476296  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4     333599  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  5     313147  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  6     302468  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     300518  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     283321  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  9     271537  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     260513  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 11     257520  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12     255053  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     232108  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     224248  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
 15     222324  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.18.1.el5)
 16     220679  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17     196748  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 18     188291  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.6.1.el5PAE)
 19     187482  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 20     184357  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Mar 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      271251  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
  2      110528  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  3       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       74965  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       66551  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       63121  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       60867  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       50074  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12       47833  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32-5-xen-686)
 13       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 14       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       36728  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101-0.15-default)
 16       36139  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 17       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 18       35229  ECF-EDNY@NYED.USCOURTS.GOV (Linux 2.6.32-358.14.1.el6.x86_64)
 19       35163  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 20       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)