[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – June 2005


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 (JUN05, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    1499967  LSRV01.PRETNEUCK.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     831558  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     755218  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     479825  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     440830  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     439231  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  7     436720  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server)
  8     401273  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     399503  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     362544  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 11     316442  LIST.VENTUREWIRE.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     292107  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     285599  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 14     272514  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 15     245990  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 16     245629  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29)
 17     241969  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     212214  LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8)
 19     207704  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     191961  EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2005)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3776461  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  2     2077474  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp)
  3     1692285  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  4     1275647  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1083991  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
  7     1059775  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  8     1058470  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  9     1034117  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      941805  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      940828  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      720782  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      719294  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 15      696710  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0)
 16      675067  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec)
 17      619271  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 18      586314  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 19      563850  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 20      554975  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Jun 2005)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 37081  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2 22570  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp)
  3 22042  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5  9930  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  6  8292  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec)
  7  6459  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  8  5319  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9)
  9  4828  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  4805  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 11  4729  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  4396  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 13  4304  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 14  4067  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 15  3954  MARIST (VM/SP 1.0)
 16  3773  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 17  3519  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  3479  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19  3476  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20  2527  LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUN05, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     752355  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     442835  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  3     436757  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server)
  4     426053  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     408994  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     346219  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     330160  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29)
  8     288997  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
  9     277240  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     272821  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 11     239764  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 12     234734  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     209789  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     184149  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     167053  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     157602  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     154512  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     141522  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     130894  LIST.CINECA.IT (SunOS 5.7)
 20     123859  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2005)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      348949  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  2      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      160651  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  4      142542  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      125977  SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  6      124855  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      122843  POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9)
  8      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9       80973  CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.151-smp)
 10       76451  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 11       74102  FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 12       65049  CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp)
 13       62473  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 14       60197  FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 15       58834  L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 16       58186  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 17       57136  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 18       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       52822  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 20       40547  ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.8)