[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – May 2009


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 (MAY09, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     457481  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  2     378957  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     366420  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  4     359575  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen)
  5     335861  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
  6     300959  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  7     228305  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
  8     219366  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     203634  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
 10     200575  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     196678  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12     176945  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 13     176217  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 14     175522  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 15     175456  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 16     174808  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 17     172664  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 18     165126  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19     153789  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows NT 5.2 Server)
 20     149230  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 May 2009)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     2831211  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp)
  2     2359558  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     1217557  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
  4     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5     1165271  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
  6     1059328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
  7     1047509  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0)
  8     1020407  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  9      843307  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp)
 10      831510  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp)
 11      785834  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 12      758192  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 13      751881  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14      751618  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp)
 15      749955  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 16      721404  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17      697292  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.13.ELsmp)
 18      670242  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL)
 19      665771  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL)
 20      635316  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 May 2009)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 26699  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 23004  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp)
  3 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  4 10828  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp)
  5  9744  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
  6  9302  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
  7  7278  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp)
  8  7151  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  9  6564  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5)
 10  5587  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11  5542  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 12  5403  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp)
 13  5166  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
 14  4968  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15  4909  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16  4676  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4421  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18  4397  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 19  3824  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 20  3466  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAY09, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     443861  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  2     362858  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     356786  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  4     325050  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp)
  5     296401  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  6     224697  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
  7     198429  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     193779  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     179711  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 10     176163  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
 11     175522  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 12     173415  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 13     172078  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 14     165859  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15     164677  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 16     153201  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 17     143971  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
 18     142203  LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 19     139825  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 20     137880  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows NT 5.2 Server)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 May 2009)

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       86296  ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6)
  4       81923  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       77476  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       74042  E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9)
  7       70384  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       64713  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       63828  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       52804  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       48058  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL)
 12       46419  L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 13       44831  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 14       42109  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp)
 15       38359  L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 16       36844  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17       36677  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18       36286  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 19       35516  EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0)
 20       34582  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)