[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – November 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 (NOV14, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     769568  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     503533  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     322770  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  4     319376  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     310603  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  6     309456  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     288674  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8     257910  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     246889  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10     243729  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     243539  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 12     227749  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     224459  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14     218378  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 15     216046  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 16     208222  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 17     202918  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.el6.x86_64)
 18     188602  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-371.9.1.el5)
 19     186142  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64)
 20     186107  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4676475  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2     4233994  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     1640146  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  4     1562331  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1465573  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
  6     1375097  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     1367033  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     1221505  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  9     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1020674  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12     1002428  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 13      953192  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 14      934985  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      840175  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      809079  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17      801345  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19      721956  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20      710199  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Nov 2014)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 41573  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 35001  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 31509  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  4 11995  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5 11800  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
  6  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  8  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  9  7159  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10  7040  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6354  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  6266  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  5905  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 14  5711  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 15  5165  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18)
 16  4989  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4259  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3933  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19  3711  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3230  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (NOV14, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     748191  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     498553  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     321417  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  4     312405  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     309239  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  6     304792  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     252458  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     249928  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  9     240316  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     239914  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     221937  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12     217794  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 13     210185  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 14     208050  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 15     202079  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.el6.x86_64)
 16     197223  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 17     188445  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-371.9.1.el5)
 18     185108  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64)
 19     184721  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20     173525  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      283696  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2      110480  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  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       62998  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       59684  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       50559  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32)
 12       50074  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 14       40259  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
 15       38656  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 16       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 17       36668  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101)
 18       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 19       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 20       33929  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)