[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – July 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 (JUL16, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     713867  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     311115  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     309332  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  4     229634  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     220339  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6     191496  DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic)
  7     183889  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 2.6.32-46-pve)
  8     173330  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  9     171407  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 10     166830  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     166699  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12     166323  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 13     166057  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 14     161649  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 15     155763  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 16     154358  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     147451  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18     144849  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 19     144445  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20     140191  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4882716  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3372964  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1731191  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1720047  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1423244  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6     1369824  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  7     1235861  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     1199700  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10      994253  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 11      983654  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12      938721  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 13      919438  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14      907318  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      899981  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 16      818247  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      722078  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18      717831  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19      690951  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20      666361  LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

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

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 26351  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2 14825  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 14009  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4 13203  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  8344  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  8  7154  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9  6865  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
 10  6845  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6440  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 12  6383  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 13  5663  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  5475  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4249  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16  4013  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17  3866  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18  3671  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 19  3519  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 20  3415  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUL16, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     690599  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     306004  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     225335  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  4     215434  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     165938  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
  6     163802  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     163359  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
  8     163197  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     157664  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 10     155838  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 11     154101  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 12     150427  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13     144389  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 14     143106  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15     134307  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 16     127303  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17     117585  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18     116735  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-573.22.1.el6.x86_64)
 19     115209  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 20     110909  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      301227  NYSTEACHING@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  2      300732  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  3       77013  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       62621  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  5       54051  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (AIX 5.3)
  6       41337  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  7       37751  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  8       34949  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  9       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10       33622  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 11       30848  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 13       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       28747  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15       28672  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 16       28279  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 17       27723  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18       27424  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19       26418  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 20       26117  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)