[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – November 2013


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 (NOV13, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     821229  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     472880  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  3     457627  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     367423  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     328557  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     303718  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  7     303092  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8     279931  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  9     266268  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     265901  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.16.1.el5)
 11     253829  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12     252086  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     238503  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 14     218559  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
 15     205968  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16     202055  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17     198790  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18     193820  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.6.1.el5)
 19     189697  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 20     184366  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2013)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3802386  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3519849  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  3     1445356  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  4     1382792  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  5     1374234  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.6.1.el5)
  6     1346956  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  7     1270726  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  8     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
  9     1171119  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.16.1.el5)
 11     1030432  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12      966123  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13      959069  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
 14      951433  LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 15      897976  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.4.1.el5)
 16      805626  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      773077  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
 18      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-371.1.2.el5xen)
 19      749047  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 20      737121  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82-0.7-default)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Nov 2013)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 53316  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 34116  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 24732  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
  4 12150  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp)
  5 10686  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp)
  6  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-164.11.1.el5)
  7  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.16.1.el5)
  8  8412  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5)
  9  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5)
 10  6943  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
 11  6821  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 12  6500  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  6414  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 14  5829  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
 15  5753  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 16  4834  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4160  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3786  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 19  3743  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.4.1.el5)
 20  3045  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32-52-generic)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (NOV13, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     800520  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     459936  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem)
  3     452623  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     357905  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5     324701  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     292088  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.16.1.el5)
  7     286723  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  8     278841  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  9     262908  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 10     261077  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-348.16.1.el5)
 11     250732  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.93-0.5-default)
 12     237724  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 13     221069  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     219286  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-348.1.1.el5)
 15     199273  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16     197120  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17     196923  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 18     193676  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-348.6.1.el5)
 19     189065  LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
 20     183478  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (SunOS 5.10)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2013)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      264265  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)
  2      110910  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64)
  3       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       74965  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  5       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       66551  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       63262  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8       63180  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  9       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 11       50073  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12       47839  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32-5-xen-686)
 13       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 14       38535  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 15       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 16       36893  SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
 17       36563  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.93-0.8-default)
 18       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 19       35229  ECF-EDNY@NYED.USCOURTS.GOV (Linux 2.6.32-358.14.1.el6.x86_64)
 20       35196  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34-0.7-default)