[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – June 2013


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 (JUN13, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     720117  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     412056  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  3     329777  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  4     301910  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     247941  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  6     235567  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     218607  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  8     216773  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  9     193782  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     184142  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     158678  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 12     155243  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 13     150579  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     146382  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.6.1.el5)
 15     143763  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 16     143469  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.58-0.6.2-default)
 17     140137  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18     133685  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.4.1.el5xen)
 19     128002  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 20     127834  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2013)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3785933  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  2     3333086  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  3     1436524  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  4     1391449  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.13.1.el5)
  5     1305184  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  6     1250389  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     1245889  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  8     1241372  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  9     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
 11     1002198  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.58-0.6.2-default)
 12      956842  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13      845986  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 14      822054  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 15      812043  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.el5)
 16      792543  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      774787  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 18      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.4.1.el5xen)
 19      731769  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
 20      721956  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Jun 2013)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 40428  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 24544  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  3 16861  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  4 12903  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  5 12627  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  6  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-164.11.1.el5)
  7  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  8  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
  9  8031  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
 10  6815  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
 11  6630  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12  6412  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.58-0.6.2-default)
 13  5974  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 14  5639  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
 15  5586  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 16  4745  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4408  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 18  4054  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19  3816  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3704  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUN13, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     700051  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     399456  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  3     324882  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  4     292633  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     243745  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  6     231293  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     218068  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  8     210635  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  9     182004  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     181043  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     146258  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.6.1.el5)
 12     142450  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     140483  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.58-0.6.2-default)
 14     140190  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 15     138539  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16     136526  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 17     136495  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 18     127676  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 19     125864  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.4.1.el5xen)
 20     125189  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2013)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      259444  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
  2      109059  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  3       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       74965  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       69309  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7       66551  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       61727  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       50073  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12       47039  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13       46997  UICNEWS@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 14       44628  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32-5-xen-686)
 15       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 16       41105  MOBCOMNEWSLETTER-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.10)
 17       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 18       36926  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 19       36267  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.58-0.6.6-default)
 20       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)