[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 2008


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 (DEC08, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     632043  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen)
  2     479856  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     374040  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
  4     348472  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
  5     344326  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     315171  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  7     278656  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  8     245222  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
  9     219600  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 10     210009  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 11     183550  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12     173583  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 13     160274  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 14     158021  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp)
 15     150923  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 16     150162  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17     149876  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
 18     139092  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 19     136334  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20     132702  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2008)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     2571926  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp)
  2     1967492  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     1351377  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  4     1315401  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1161568  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
  7     1014670  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0)
  8      978168  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  9      954065  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
 10      865787  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp)
 11      782016  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 12      766038  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 13      741464  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp)
 14      734340  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15      730783  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp)
 16      710729  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 17      705934  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 18      701060  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
 19      662151  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20      657670  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Dec 2008)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 24277  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp)
  2 19796  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  3 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  4 11117  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
  5 10332  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp)
  6 10054  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
  7  7838  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp)
  8  6995  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  9  6392  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5)
 10  5568  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 11  5534  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 12  5470  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 13  5404  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5262  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp)
 15  4972  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
 16  4775  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17  4750  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18  4289  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 19  3756  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 20  3361  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC08, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     359849  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
  2     336144  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
  3     330767  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     310150  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  5     271506  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  6     216270  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
  7     214325  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
  8     207227  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  9     177676  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 10     171986  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     153699  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 12     152010  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13     143963  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp)
 14     143636  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
 15     136919  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16     136805  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 17     131837  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 18     126311  LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp)
 19     125512  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20     123845  LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003 R2)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2008)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      127083  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.9-default)
  2      122840  POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9)
  3       79287  ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
  4       78352  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       77019  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       74040  E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9)
  7       68217  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       64131  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       61430  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       52804  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       47459  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 12       46441  L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 13       46144  SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14       44175  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       42110  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp)
 16       39466  PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17       36871  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18       36709  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 19       35313  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20       34616  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)