[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – February 2011


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 (FEB11, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     572986  XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-194.32.1.el5xen)
  2     496413  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     454897  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  4     447344  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  5     427744  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  6     425914  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  7     312835  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
  8     294641  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
  9     287320  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 10     284663  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 11     283132  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 12     261798  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 13     246561  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.325-s390x)
 14     241909  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15     218283  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16     217235  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 17     214876  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     206547  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
 19     194366  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 20     190927  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (28 Feb 2011)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     2816076  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5)
  2     2521153  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3     1331526  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  4     1208596  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
  7     1046689  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     1024024  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp)
  9     1019039  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 10     1010386  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 11      962685  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.4.el5)
 12      941124  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13      921954  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0)
 14      876072  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15      845773  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 16      840160  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 17      825059  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 18      779587  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19      750769  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
 20      748912  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (28 Feb 2011)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 32682  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 27576  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  3 21252  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5 11912  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  9530  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  8  8921  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.4.el5)
  9  7242  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-164.6.1.el5)
 10  6307  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 11  6271  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 12  6057  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
 13  6053  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5713  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 15  5490  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16  5142  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
 17  4667  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18  4199  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 19  4063  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3936  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (FEB11, 1-28)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     490168  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  2     441794  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem)
  3     426608  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  4     417395  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  5     414288  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.28.ELsmp)
  6     309817  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
  7     282908  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  8     281403  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     274365  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 10     263301  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 11     255678  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5)
 12     245990  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.325-s390x)
 13     241539  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14     214456  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 15     213479  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 16     205480  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     190804  LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp)
 18     190539  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
 19     187945  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5)
 20     185334  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (28 Feb 2011)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      212719  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.48-0.1-default)
  2       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  3       76478  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       66539  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       63775  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       48723  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp)
  9       44716  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       43168  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 11       43044  EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0)
 12       41704  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13       40041  JAGNEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 14       37725  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       36947  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 16       36698  EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17       36514  DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18       35731  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 19       35214  STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20       34802  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)