[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 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 (DEC10, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     832145  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-194.26.1.el5xen)
  2     421284  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  3     356683  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  4     337525  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  5     333208  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  6     326964  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  7     315720  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8     221329  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     201819  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
 10     184847  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11     181567  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 12     180054  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13     180011  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 14     179237  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 15     172423  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 16     168481  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 17     165501  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen)
 18     165234  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19     156163  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 20     154375  MAIL.MYVALOTTERY.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     2985559  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5)
  2     2941072  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     1337211  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  4     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5     1179818  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  6     1158904  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  8     1013545  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  9      983991  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.4.el5)
 10      957812  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 11      948837  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp)
 12      932374  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13      922108  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0)
 14      883784  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 15      861606  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16      841565  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 17      832972  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 18      806773  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19      764349  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
 20      729453  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen)

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

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 41592  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 27757  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3 26516  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5 11406  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  8961  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  8  8875  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.4.el5)
  9  7118  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-164.6.1.el5)
 10  6219  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11  6019  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 12  5972  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 13  5960  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5663  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15  5366  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16  5062  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
 17  4635  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18  4193  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19  4091  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 20  3936  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC10, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     418229  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2     347532  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  3     327901  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  4     327790  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  5     316339  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  6     301445  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  7     217118  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  8     179415  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  9     179275  NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5)
 10     178946  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11     174787  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
 12     174415  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 13     169877  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 14     166158  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 15     162593  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16     159727  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 17     156059  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen)
 18     156035  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 19     137508  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 20     135301  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      209389  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.48-0.1-default)
  2       86414  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  3       76496  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       71983  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       66131  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       63636  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       48801  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
  9       48631  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 10       44550  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       43044  EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0)
 12       41113  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13       39491  JAGNEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 14       38902  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15       37493  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 16       36947  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 17       36724  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18       36541  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 19       34788  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 20       34590  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)