![[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 2356726 LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition) 2 893651 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition) 3 514745 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.29.1.el6.x86_64) 4 470795 ALIPES.CUMC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Linux 3.10.0-1127.8.2.el7.x86_64) 5 398639 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 6 374314 LISTSERV.WUSTL.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition) 7 372643 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 8 362001 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 3.10.0-957.12.2.el7.x86_64) 9 352951 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 298410 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 11 279445 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 12 242403 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 13 235356 LISTSERV.DOR.WA.GOV (Linux 3.10.0-1062.4.3.el7.x86_64) 14 231865 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 15 229547 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 16 224056 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 17 219543 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition) 18 210439 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 19 204614 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 192403 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4847976 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 2 4192508 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 3 2270479 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 4 1631149 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 5 1454313 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 6 1228871 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 1199948 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 8 1190438 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 9 1084742 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 10 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 11 1022354 LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 12 967232 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 13 866527 LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 14 853296 LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 4.12.14) 15 839297 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 16 810306 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 17 753227 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition) 18 746820 LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 19 739273 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 20 689794 LISTS.MAINE.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 27554 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 2 16569 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 13898 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 4 9788 LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 5 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 6 8079 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32) 7 7449 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 8 6724 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition) 9 6253 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 5659 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 11 5273 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 12 5092 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 13 5031 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 14 4869 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 15 4192 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition) 16 4128 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 17 4069 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 18 4013 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 19 3647 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 20 3298 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 2352805 LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition) 2 852839 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition) 3 514128 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.29.1.el6.x86_64) 4 471160 ALIPES.CUMC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Linux 3.10.0-1127.8.2.el7.x86_64) 5 397349 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 6 372356 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 7 361771 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 3.10.0-957.12.2.el7.x86_64) 8 348907 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 9 277543 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 10 240858 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 11 235364 LISTSERV.DOR.WA.GOV (Linux 3.10.0-1062.4.3.el7.x86_64) 12 231648 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0) 13 225541 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 14 216281 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition) 15 213430 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 16 211342 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 17 191841 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition) 18 183916 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 19 178326 LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 20 175175 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 59356 CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 2 54050 AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0) 3 52531 ECF-EDNY@NYED.USCOURTS.GOV (Linux 3.10.0) 4 41796 OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (Linux 4.12.14) 5 40970 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 6 36455 CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 7 34587 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 8 33596 L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 9 30835 FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 28918 BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 11 28918 BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 12 28309 L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 13 27889 HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 14 27709 RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition) 15 27398 VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 26419 PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 17 25522 ISMA@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 18 25010 2019-STEM-EVENT-L@LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows Server 2012 Datacenter x64 Edition) 19 24992 NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 20 24350 EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)