[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – August 2015


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 (AUG15, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     652116  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     427284  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  3     399890  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     344195  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     280101  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6     279192  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7     258757  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  8     242728  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     235064  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     219439  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 11     205694  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 12     201242  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     185247  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     182177  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 15     161357  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 16     159830  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 2.6.32-39-pve)
 17     159787  AOPAMAILER.AOPA2.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 18     141710  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19     141705  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 20     137942  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.16.2.el6.x86_64)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Aug 2015)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4712294  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     4414322  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1537091  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1514638  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  5     1514168  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  6     1389396  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  7     1375117  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     1085671  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1025481  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12      931312  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 13      892237  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14      867362  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 15      849843  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 16      784799  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17      766312  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 18      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19      713817  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20      678368  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Aug 2015)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 56612  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 31863  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3 14472  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4 12993  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  8  7236  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9  6658  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10  6564  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6142  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  6085  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  6064  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 14  6062  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 15  5126  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 16  4222  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17  4003  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 18  3743  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 19  3401  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20  3327  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (AUG15, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     630929  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     394939  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     340527  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  4     275617  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  5     273450  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6     257976  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  7     235937  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     231826  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     218943  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10     203640  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 11     182032  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 12     179772  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     159699  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     141191  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 15     136864  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.16.2.el6.x86_64)
 16     133266  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17     123719  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 18     123273  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19     118385  LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 20     115811  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Aug 2015)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300460  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2      299361  NYSTEACHING@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  3      109672  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       80208  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5       62720  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  6       59546  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7       40871  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  8       40764  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  9       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10       33873  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 11       33620  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 12       33588  EDREV@LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 13       30849  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14       29697  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 15       28263  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 16       27734  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17       27650  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18       27423  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19       26342  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 20       25441  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)