[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – October 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 (OCT15, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     907390  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     577278  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     437073  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  4     364431  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     328448  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  6     322644  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     315299  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  8     310580  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  9     291925  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     288574  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 11     273741  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 2.6.32-39-pve)
 12     270157  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     268655  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 14     247481  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 15     241536  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16     241205  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     231721  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-573.3.1.el6.x86_64)
 18     228049  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 19     221906  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 20     203919  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4830131  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3609476  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1644649  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4     1573039  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1522195  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6     1249795  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  7     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  8     1178832  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1058441  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     1037807  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 12     1023325  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13      978688  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 14      928491  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      924337  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 16      845213  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      832300  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 18      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19      750311  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20      669157  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

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

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 56765  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 35394  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 25739  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  4 11971  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  6800  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9  6792  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 10  6367  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
 11  6226  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 12  6129  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 13  6036  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5150  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4257  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16  4005  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17  3898  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18  3347  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)
 19  3317  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 20  3314  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (OCT15, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     882966  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     571815  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     360439  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  4     325399  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  5     315032  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     314280  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  7     287124  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  8     286488  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9     270101  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     268087  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 11     253101  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 12     241108  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 13     238872  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14     236076  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 15     230475  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-573.3.1.el6.x86_64)
 16     221370  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     218587  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 18     203271  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19     196966  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20     188201  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300770  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2      299501  NYSTEACHING@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  3      109575  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       79755  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5       62705  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  6       40956  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  7       40811  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  8       34967  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  9       34588  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10       33621  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 11       33588  EDREV@LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12       31227  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 13       30849  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14       28254  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 15       27804  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16       27728  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17       27427  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18       26415  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 19       25432  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 20       24988  NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Solaris 2.9)