![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](/images/HDR-LISTSERV-sm.gif)
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).
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).
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 423794 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 409022 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 403391 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 4 361735 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 5 345852 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 6 320625 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 7 320314 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5xen) 8 303213 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 270315 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 10 240466 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 239895 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 239045 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 226626 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 14 210806 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 15 208579 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 195713 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 184299 LS.DEALMAKERS.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 173706 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 168706 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 20 167363 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2668930 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 2141216 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-52.ELsmp) 3 2031940 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1142676 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 6 1133084 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 7 1042631 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 1035496 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 9 914833 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 10 903023 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 877597 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 12 839585 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 778721 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 14 747950 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 725130 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 701034 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 694145 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 18 678770 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 672403 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 20 656931 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 65016 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 20015 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-52.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 10647 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 5 10590 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 6 9158 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 8730 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 8391 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 9 6709 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 6531 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 5173 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 5158 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 5139 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 14 5086 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 5063 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 16 5024 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 4340 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4310 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 4186 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 4098 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 396261 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 387441 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 3 354005 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 4 336817 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 317889 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 303602 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 239895 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 237074 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 236205 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 233883 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 11 223749 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 12 201474 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 188041 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 14 184297 LS.DEALMAKERS.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 175156 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 167376 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 165184 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 18 163067 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 19 162918 LISTS.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-8.el5) 20 157460 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 127083 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.7-default) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 95069 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 78389 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 76280 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74031 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 69486 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 65012 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64495 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 55813 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 52806 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 47209 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46473 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 14 46147 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 44639 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 16 40651 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 17 37891 NOTICE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36964 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 36805 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 34993 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
