[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – January 2000


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 (JAN00, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    3419593  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     936350  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     668579  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  4     664070  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     611928  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???)
  6     540608  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     372643  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
  8     355368  SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9     339980  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     336525  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 11     305340  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 12     294071  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     221837  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     210404  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12)
 15     207144  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     192559  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
 17     192478  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 18     190158  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     189157  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     176064  LISTS.LDSWORLD.COM (???)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Jan 2000)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4267651  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     3475201  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     3067191  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     2456402  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     2237029  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     2019501  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1687199  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     1333762  LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9      867311  LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      832377  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 11      750777  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 12      610652  MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      610416  EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 14      571028  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      379456  LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      315962  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2)
 17      314652  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 18      306583  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 19      271649  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 20      268309  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Jan 2000)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 14280  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  2  4993  LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3  2944  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  4  2854  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  5  2415  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  6  2304  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7  2069  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8  1994  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
  9  1782  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10  1562  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 11  1417  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 12  1414  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 13  1405  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 14  1393  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15  1363  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16  1335  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17  1287  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  1282  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 19  1216  HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 20  1189  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JAN00, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1   25943732  LISTAS.PROINTERNET.COM.BR (???)
  2    1119746  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  3     944308  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     874772  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5     874407  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     713354  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     610000  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???)
  8     410586  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
  9     407439  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     399733  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 11     380305  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 12     352974  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     322266  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 14     260635  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     256208  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12)
 16     238663  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
 17     231091  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 18     223111  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     219175  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     212706  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Jan 2000)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      656112  HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      462244  DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  3      423116  DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  4      378287  VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      222464  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      184297  JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      178304  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      157365  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      155264  HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      149823  GARTNERGROUP_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      133264  BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 12      128248  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 13      126625  BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 14      124975  REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      123993  SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      116834  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      116776  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      109804  SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19      109271  SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       99383  GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)