[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – May 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 (MAY14, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     821066  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     385196  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     364827  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4     318377  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  5     295277  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  6     251215  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  7     251038  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  8     250248  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     243514  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 10     234878  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 11     229053  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 12     223238  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     218533  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     210117  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.18.1.el5)
 15     202199  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.8.1.el5PAE)
 16     194735  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17     193642  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 18     180412  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 19     176483  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20     169287  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.3.1.el6.x86_64)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3913211  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3659512  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  3     1553452  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4     1538590  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
  5     1494592  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  6     1346051  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  7     1328099  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  8     1244716  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      972459  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12      925610  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13      892907  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 14      891201  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 15      836156  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      795668  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
 17      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)
 18      743180  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82-0.7-default)
 19      721956  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20      705745  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)

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

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 66448  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 24881  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  3 18114  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4 12766  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  5 11251  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  8645  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  7103  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
 11  6544  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 12  6336  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  6062  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 14  5825  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 15  5637  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 16  4828  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4228  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3842  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 19  3831  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3128  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32-52-generic)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAY14, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     798759  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     380326  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     356459  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4     314170  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  5     294615  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  6     246703  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     245220  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  8     240873  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
  9     229128  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 10     226751  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 11     217608  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 12     209930  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.18.1.el5)
 13     202426  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.8.1.el5PAE)
 14     191276  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 15     188877  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 16     188277  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 17     174740  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18     168648  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.3.1.el6.x86_64)
 19     160191  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 20     159306  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      277339  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
  2      110664  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       63090  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       59841  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       50073  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12       47748  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       36700  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101-0.15-default)
 16       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 17       35145  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 18       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 19       33626  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 20       33588  EDREV@LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)