[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 1999


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 (DEC99, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    3001442  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     814071  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     618518  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     527329  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5     473751  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???)
  6     458823  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     387539  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     329626  SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9     313363  LISTS1.PSU.EDU (???)
 10     303013  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
 11     295818  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 12     283495  LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 13     255631  MLM.JOBSONLINE.COM (???)
 14     254924  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 15     234222  LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (???)
 16     231116  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     200441  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     188723  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12)
 19     187313  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 20     172014  LISTSERV.ALLOYONLINE.COM (???)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Dec 1999)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4530155  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     3349168  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     3067191  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     2730905  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     2016895  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     1982198  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     1677334  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     1233453  LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9      783284  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 10      723160  LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      610652  MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      602976  EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 13      560687  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      498298  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 15      379456  LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      312347  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2)
 17      287232  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 18      274456  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 19      265842  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15)
 20      260513  SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Dec 1999)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 13960  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  2  4992  LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3  2723  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  4  2478  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  5  2220  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  6  2138  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7  2037  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8  1861  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
  9  1772  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10  1535  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 11  1394  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 12  1387  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 13  1377  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 14  1331  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15  1303  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16  1259  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 17  1245  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  1205  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 19  1160  HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 20  1121  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.6)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC99, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     969320  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  2     823457  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     813914  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     681421  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5     599724  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     471964  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???)
  7     453978  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     350036  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  9     334152  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)
 10     299318  LISTS1.PSU.EDU (???)
 11     297488  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 12     290834  LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (???)
 13     281019  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     254388  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 15     239331  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     231377  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 17     228834  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12)
 18     210452  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
 19     206566  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 20     199098  ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Dec 1999)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      656423  HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      378287  VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      366703  DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  4      269366  DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5      222446  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      178306  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      156403  HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      144831  JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      137104  GARTNERGROUP_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      133264  BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 11      128646  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      126622  BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 13      124518  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 14      122936  SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      116191  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      114126  REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      112857  SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      112846  SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19      107556  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       84060  OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)