![[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 776329 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 2 685458 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 3 487996 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 4 260240 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 5 242064 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 6 240576 DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic) 7 238752 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64) 8 228610 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 9 224058 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 10 220465 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 11 213966 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 12 210546 LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 13 198340 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 14 197312 LIST.UNM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64) 15 186828 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5) 16 183931 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 17 163914 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 18 155557 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 19 148301 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64) 20 145016 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5319877 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 2 3675336 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 3 2009852 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 4 1378575 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 5 1301463 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 6 1286146 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 1282581 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 8 1180269 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 9 1149638 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 11 986033 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 944029 LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 13 851343 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 14 818258 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0) 15 815425 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 16 777735 LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 17 769481 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 18 767652 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 19 764556 LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 735655 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 27115 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 2 16890 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 14192 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 4 9788 LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 5 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 6 8079 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32) 7 7489 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 8 6838 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 9 6610 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 10 6555 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 11 5532 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 5522 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 13 5108 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 14 4450 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 15 4372 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 16 4324 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 17 3936 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 18 3905 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10) 19 3843 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 3672 YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 774909 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 2 657790 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 3 483162 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 4 260102 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 5 238199 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64) 6 237573 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 7 216681 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 8 215780 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 9 212284 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 10 210498 LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 11 197133 LIST.UNM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64) 12 195835 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 13 188711 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 14 186649 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5) 15 181566 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 16 152729 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 17 147984 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64) 18 141992 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 19 141596 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 140058 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 300656 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 2 62399 EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 3 54050 AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0) 4 41762 OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1) 5 40647 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 6 35700 CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 7 34587 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 8 33606 L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 9 30835 FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 29260 CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 11 29154 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 28323 L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 15 27709 RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 16 27405 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 25133 CANVASSTUDENTS_AUTO@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 20 24990 NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)