[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – August 2004


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 (AUG04, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    9660902  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    1804753  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     584037  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  4     528741  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     425939  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     402804  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     361889  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  8     357048  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     333909  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     322014  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 11     304292  MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     269025  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     243675  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 14     229761  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 15     219955  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 16     214850  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 17     191296  LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     180438  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26)
 19     161257  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     161055  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Aug 2004)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3902171  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  2     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     1296218  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  4     1280158  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp)
  5     1211748  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  7     1061881  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
  8     1034117  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      946859  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      914301  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 11      756692  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 12      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      642056  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 14      619543  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 15      609157  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 16      593304  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec)
 17      581155  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0)
 18      535162  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 19      522119  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 20      507338  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Aug 2004)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 43065  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-29.8.4smp)
  2 19983  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  4 18519  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  5  9724  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  6  7690  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.26-grsec)
  7  4903  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
  8  4664  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9)
  9  4616  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  4548  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 11  4334  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 12  4202  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13  4153  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 14  3970  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 15  3883  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 16  3295  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 17  2634  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  2546  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 19  2272  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
 20  2269  LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (AUG04, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     777725  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     584073  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  3     523644  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  4     442411  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     392358  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     376657  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     277261  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
  8     265801  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     254612  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 10     246874  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26)
 11     241021  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 12     232036  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13     207168  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     176390  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/SP 3.0)
 15     171191  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     169989  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     154334  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     153985  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
 19     151945  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     138361  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Aug 2004)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      302943  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  2      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      160651  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  6      142542  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      124855  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9       80451  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 10       69715  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 11       67446  CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp)
 12       65349  CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13       64369  FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 14       58721  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 15       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16       48898  FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 17       47398  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 18       39417  ALUMNEWS@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       37877  CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       37663  L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)