[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 2014


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 (DEC14, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     551899  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     402870  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     302022  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4     282130  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  5     276569  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     227342  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  7     221359  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     218377  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     214509  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10     209776  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     197308  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12     184643  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     176948  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 14     163053  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 15     157592  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16     155687  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     152601  AOPAMAILER.AOPA2.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 18     150852  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19     145454  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64)
 20     144900  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4308646  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2     4218848  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     1630493  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  4     1536825  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1424201  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
  6     1375097  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  7     1367033  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     1230892  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  9     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1020674  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 12     1003403  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 13      953192  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 14      932818  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      814934  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      803773  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17      757370  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 18      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19      725448  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 20      721956  LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Dec 2014)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 41573  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 35153  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 31679  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  4 12181  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5 11845  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
  6  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  8  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  9  7159  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10  6531  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  6371  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  6266  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  5903  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)
 14  5711  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 15  5196  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18)
 16  5007  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 17  4319  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3939  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19  3799  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3288  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC14, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     533420  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     397817  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     296012  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4     281168  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  5     272073  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
  6     219247  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  7     215542  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     205214  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     198197  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     193787  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     158627  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 12     158233  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
 13     155905  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14     153956  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15     150251  PO.MISSOURI.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 16     144403  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-358.2.1.el6.x86_64)
 17     143750  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64)
 18     139108  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9)
 19     131666  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 20     128205  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2014)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      285325  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2      110480  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  3       86994  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  4       79886  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5       74965  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  6       72327  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  7       66551  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
  8       62998  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  9       62026  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 10       59684  GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11       52803  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 12       50986  ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32)
 13       50075  FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       44053  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 15       40259  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
 16       37250  CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 17       36668  WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101)
 18       35744  FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
 19       34586  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 20       33924  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)