[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – October 2010


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 (OCT10, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     430549  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-194.3.1.el5xen)
  2     424769  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  3     414908  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  4     410449  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  5     383187  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  6     358615  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  7     273158  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
  8     265159  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     257853  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 10     253083  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11     239822  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 12     223163  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 13     218710  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.323-s390x)
 14     217974  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 15     217347  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16     213904  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 17     197163  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 18     192542  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 19     190580  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20     190398  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Oct 2010)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     2633391  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  2     2557423  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp)
  3     1255290  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  4     1204811  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1130938  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     1083935  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0)
  8     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  9      981439  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 10      953693  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 11      920523  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp)
 12      908618  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-194.3.1.el5)
 13      898963  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 14      852317  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15      834187  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 16      826263  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 17      824558  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 18      784053  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19      782283  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20      752492  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Oct 2010)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 40851  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 27702  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3 20489  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5 11259  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp)
  6  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  7  8876  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  8  8847  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-194.3.1.el5)
  9  7099  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-164.6.1.el5)
 10  6821  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6166  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12  5983  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13  5877  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5627  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15  5318  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16  5036  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
 17  4596  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18  4205  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19  4068  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 20  3875  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (OCT10, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     412812  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  2     407988  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     392980  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  4     372363  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  5     347679  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  6     270515  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
  7     262175  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     253185  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     245884  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 10     234065  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 11     218501  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 12     218160  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.323-s390x)
 13     216791  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14     213902  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 15     194519  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 16     192574  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 17     188396  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 18     188135  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19     185956  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 20     163671  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Oct 2010)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      205443  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.48-0.1-default)
  2      122701  MARKETPLACE@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  3       87237  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       76564  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       73545  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       66941  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       63778  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  9       51702  MOBCOMNEWSLETTER-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.10)
 10       49221  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 11       48998  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 12       44609  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 13       43044  EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0)
 14       40559  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 15       38967  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16       37682  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 17       37429  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 18       36946  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 19       36738  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 20       36557  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)