[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – April 2017


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 (APR17, 1-27)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     725323  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     561748  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  3     510827  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     312423  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     304999  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 4.4.40-1-pve)
  6     282760  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7     269260  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     253439  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     250176  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     241280  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     234961  DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic)
 12     228714  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 13     225106  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     216935  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 15     214653  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 16     210973  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17     207265  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18     195695  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-642.6.2.el6.x86_64)
 19     194080  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 20     191349  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (27 Apr 2017)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     5003521  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     4180989  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1750871  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1458842  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  5     1370117  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     1335262  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7     1272926  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  8     1270141  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9     1084201  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1054447  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 12      987182  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 13      938600  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14      920052  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 15      906875  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 16      818258  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      807642  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 18      789652  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19      789246  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20      758923  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (27 Apr 2017)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 30001  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2 19203  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 14009  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4 12295  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  7447  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
  8  6845  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  9  6629  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 10  6481  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 11  5897  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  5722  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13  5472  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  4818  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4358  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16  4008  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17  3900  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 18  3824  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 19  3699  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3579  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (APR17, 1-27)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     699392  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     560620  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  3     505286  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     307036  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     279540  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6     263082  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     253231  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  8     231143  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     219208  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     216632  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 11     209188  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12     208082  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     207181  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 14     192316  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-642.6.2.el6.x86_64)
 15     191907  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 16     191362  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     189490  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18     167177  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19     165376  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 20     157196  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (27 Apr 2017)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300684  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2       62525  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  3       56151  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       54051  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (AIX 5.3)
  5       41640  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  6       38168  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7       34922  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  8       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  9       34085  CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10       33619  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 11       30848  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12       29181  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 13       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 15       28814  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16       28362  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 17       27715  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18       27418  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19       26418  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 20       26103  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)