[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – April 2015


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 (APR15, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     776702  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     557655  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     469727  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  4     419604  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  5     396782  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  6     373690  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  7     322685  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     320063  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  9     319515  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     306948  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     273925  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 12     264696  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 13     252595  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 14     248688  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 15     239529  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 16     225235  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     217528  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18     215343  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
 19     208719  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 20     197395  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (28 Apr 2015)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4392661  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     4173386  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1616351  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1523141  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  5     1444964  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6     1375117  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     1313368  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  8     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     1133148  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1023714  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 12     1013782  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 13      936465  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14      842560  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      841166  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      804329  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17      787612  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
 18      752962  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 19      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 20      745201  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (28 Apr 2015)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 54494  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 34670  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 28536  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  4 12601  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  8  7236  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9  6674  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 10  6471  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11  6225  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12  5920  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 13  5854  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 14  5827  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18)
 15  5007  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 16  4304  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17  3968  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 18  3845  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19  3812  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
 20  3324  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (APR15, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     754565  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     552255  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     469117  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  4     394813  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  5     369427  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     316680  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     314239  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  8     303455  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     275651  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     260630  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     252010  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 12     242242  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     241227  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     238773  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 15     223058  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16     215497  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17     212767  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
 18     193898  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 19     182023  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64)
 20     181606  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (28 Apr 2015)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      317050  NYSTEACHING@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  2      294461  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  3      109672  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       80649  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6       74965  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       66551  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       62840  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       59547  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 13       50127  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       40626  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
 16       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 17       36668  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101)
 18       35983  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 19       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)