![[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 841182 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 454130 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 421588 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 4 297527 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 5 254211 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 6 237423 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 234718 LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 8 234685 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 9 215387 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 10 212564 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 11 211073 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 12 210001 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 13 208494 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 14 193147 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.9.1.el6.x86_64) 15 186212 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 16 184866 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 17 178167 DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic) 18 165561 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 19 143045 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64) 20 142101 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5275446 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 2 3757504 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 3 2130142 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 4 1374994 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 5 1367700 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 6 1336290 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 1307597 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 8 1282581 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 9 1140219 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 11 988890 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 944029 LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 13 818258 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0) 14 810858 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 15 805402 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 16 794674 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 17 791103 LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 18 779827 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 19 769290 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 743949 LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 26955 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 2 16942 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 14247 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 4 12302 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 7510 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 9 6892 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 10 6663 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 11 5663 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 5465 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 13 5106 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 14 4438 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 15 4418 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 16 4372 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 17 3974 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10) 18 3891 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 19 3731 YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32) 20 3614 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 812831 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 449704 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 420664 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 4 283835 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 5 251303 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 6 234688 LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 7 234490 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 8 231854 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 9 212703 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 10 207278 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 11 206798 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 191541 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 13 190245 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.9.1.el6.x86_64) 14 183044 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 15 161153 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 16 152681 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 17 142778 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64) 18 139661 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 19 135260 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 132814 LISTSERV.AAP.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 300656 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 2 62363 EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 3 62011 CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 4 54050 AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0) 5 44129 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 6 41763 OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (Linux 4.4.162) 7 39267 CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 8 34587 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 9 33603 L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 10 30835 FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 11 29400 HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 28918 BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 13 28918 BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 14 28318 L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 15 27709 RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 16 27402 VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 27079 HINDU-D@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 18 26418 PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 19 24990 NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 20 24786 ISMA@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)