[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – July 2014


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 (JUL14, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     698038  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     378149  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  3     366131  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     257488  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  5     240770  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     222698  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  7     210754  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  8     208195  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
  9     186890  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     176762  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 11     175007  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
 12     169588  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     169387  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     168584  AOPAMAILER.AOPA2.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 15     165706  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 16     160106  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-371.9.1.el5)
 17     156576  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)
 18     141504  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 19     136423  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20     134051  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (29 Jul 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4536690  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  2     3998316  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     1562036  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4     1475042  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
  5     1429160  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  6     1349120  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  7     1344795  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  8     1252539  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  9     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 11      961098  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12      924443  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13      881515  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 14      879831  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 15      798761  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)
 17      738986  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82-0.7-default)
 18      721956  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 19      706376  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 20      634062  LISTSERV.ILLINOIS.EDU (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (29 Jul 2014)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 67708  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 30742  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  3 18172  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4 13080  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  5 11315  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 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  8  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
  9  7119  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
 10  6715  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6308  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12  6030  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 13  5845  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 14  5702  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 15  4831  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 16  4652  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
 17  4232  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3869  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 19  3833  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3147  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32-52-generic)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUL14, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     677516  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     370115  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  3     361538  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     256968  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  5     236233  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     218434  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
  7     205849  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
  8     183676  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     172732  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
 10     170899  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5)
 11     165257  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 12     159985  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-371.9.1.el5)
 13     150278  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     144319  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 15     143249  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)
 16     133433  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 17     131035  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18     125001  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.3.1.el5)
 19     124092  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 20     113373  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (29 Jul 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      279439  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
  2      110885  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       66551  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       63083  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       59750  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       48552  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32-5-xen-686)
 13       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 14       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       36762  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101-0.15-default)
 16       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 17       35143  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 18       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 19       33624  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 20       33588  EDREV@LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen)