[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – May 2017


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 (MAY17, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     763415  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     330901  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     319406  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 4.4.59-1-pve)
  4     299988  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     294223  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  6     249879  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7     247051  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8     224464  DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic)
  9     220404  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 10     217681  LIST.UNM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.el6.x86_64)
 11     213900  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 12     201862  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     195722  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 14     187503  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 15     178744  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16     177728  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     177176  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 18     174044  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19     173080  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20     159916  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (28 May 2017)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4974360  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3547980  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1809299  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1444339  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  5     1388773  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  6     1331061  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7     1258702  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     1252858  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1030149  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 11      988941  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 12      976253  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 13      944185  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14      921418  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      914342  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 16      818258  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      781910  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18      752663  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19      746487  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20      704955  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (28 May 2017)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 26707  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2 19256  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 14016  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4 13248  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  6845  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  8  6642  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9  6488  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10  6381  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
 11  5936  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  5717  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13  5473  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  4857  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4359  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16  3992  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17  3921  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 18  3843  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 19  3702  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3574  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAY17, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     736626  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     325973  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     289505  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  4     287308  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     246945  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6     240721  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  7     219254  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     217493  LIST.UNM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.el6.x86_64)
  9     192510  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 10     187352  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 11     176945  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 12     176754  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13     173567  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14     173508  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 15     173027  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 16     166781  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17     153082  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.1.1.el6.x86_64)
 18     142122  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 19     141798  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 20     140169  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (28 May 2017)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300682  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2       62523  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  3       56066  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       54051  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (AIX 5.3)
  5       41670  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  6       34922  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  7       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  8       34084  CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  9       33618  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 10       30848  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11       29422  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 12       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 13       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       28802  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15       28362  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 16       27714  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17       27418  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18       26419  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 19       26161  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 20       26103  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)