[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – February 2019


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 (FEB19, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     867235  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     687758  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  3     440247  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     310127  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     256635  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     254939  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  7     254485  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
  8     236308  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  9     235897  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10     226138  DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic)
 11     219245  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12     217410  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 13     208456  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 14     208302  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 15     204324  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 16     186914  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 17     184099  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18     180514  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.10.1.el6.x86_64)
 19     174920  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 20     166251  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (28 Feb 2019)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     5050684  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3788024  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  3     2201948  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1406572  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5     1378097  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     1371297  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7     1292057  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     1282581  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  9     1132722  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11      982099  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12      944029  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 13      826119  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 14      820181  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 15      818258  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      812309  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17      793193  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18      790139  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 19      762625  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20      743757  LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (28 Feb 2019)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 27270  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  2 16917  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 14272  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4 13342  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7  8079  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
  8  7622  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  9  7459  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 10  6930  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 11  6666  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 12  5722  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13  5467  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  5098  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 15  4493  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 16  4429  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17  4372  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
 18  3979  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 19  3974  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 20  3915  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (FEB19, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     837820  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     686506  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  3     435380  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     296231  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     254733  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  6     254301  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
  7     250584  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     235873  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  9     217861  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10     212223  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 11     205444  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 12     205416  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 13     192974  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     186441  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 15     180802  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16     179732  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.10.1.el6.x86_64)
 17     174645  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 18     165395  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19     159375  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20     158796  LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (28 Feb 2019)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300656  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
  2       62355  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  3       61884  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       54050  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0)
  5       44354  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6       41763  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (Linux 4.4.162)
  7       36727  CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
  8       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  9       33602  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 10       31681  CENTERFORMICROBIOLOGY@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 11       30835  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12       29481  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 15       28316  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 16       27709  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17       27401  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18       27079  HINDU-D@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19       26418  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 20       24991  NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)