[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – February 2016


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 (FEB16, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     930354  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     573719  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     396219  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  4     374423  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     335208  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  6     331366  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     315720  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     296114  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     289948  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     267118  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 11     262992  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 12     246390  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 13     237080  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 14     236735  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 2.6.32-44-pve)
 15     233582  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 16     233103  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17     226878  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 18     220851  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 19     220745  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20     214563  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (29 Feb 2016)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4816206  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3609532  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1673185  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1652554  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  5     1600706  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     1472859  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7     1327225  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  8     1166581  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1025956  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 11     1023681  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12      957799  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 13      946840  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14      904351  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      897211  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 16      878617  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17      830778  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 18      755881  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 20      714461  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (29 Feb 2016)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 56770  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 33785  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 26228  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  4 12767  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  6941  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8  6737  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  9  6640  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
 10  6351  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 11  6174  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 12  5975  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  5193  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  4307  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 15  4017  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 16  3873  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17  3496  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 18  3404  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 19  3377  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)
 20  3339  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (FEB16, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     905233  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     568573  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     394444  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  4     371453  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     323629  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     315040  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  7     312163  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     292163  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     266504  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 10     253952  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     250114  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 12     240234  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 13     236556  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 14     233360  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 15     226712  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 16     218738  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     215221  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18     212771  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19     205613  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 20     205415  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-573.3.1.el6.x86_64)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (29 Feb 2016)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300749  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2      299824  NYSTEACHING@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  3      109574  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       77316  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5       62675  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  6       54701  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (AIX 5.3)
  7       41207  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  8       41132  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  9       34958  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 10       34588  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 11       33621  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 12       33588  EDREV@LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 13       30849  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14       30705  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 15       28278  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 16       28050  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17       27725  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18       27427  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19       26414  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 20       26121  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)