[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – November 2015


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 (NOV15, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     816599  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     475615  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     388103  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  4     334134  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  5     330667  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  6     302927  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  7     279264  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     276568  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  9     273159  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     270237  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 11     268491  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
 12     260501  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 2.6.32-39-pve)
 13     259085  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 14     230509  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 15     228107  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 16     226887  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     218760  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18     209167  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 19     203777  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 20     187397  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-573.3.1.el6.x86_64)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2015)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4812221  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3566196  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1644649  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4     1571246  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1506619  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6     1257633  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  7     1207079  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  8     1178832  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1058441  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     1037240  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 12     1025559  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 13     1020873  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14      966934  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 15      914887  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 16      846205  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17      840086  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 18      758425  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19      751295  LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 20      707974  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Nov 2015)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 56765  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  2 35453  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 25800  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  4 12026  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  5  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7  8328  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18)
  8  6887  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  9  6824  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10  6414  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
 11  6226  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 12  6160  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 13  6023  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 14  5158  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4273  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16  4006  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 17  3906  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18  3359  YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)
 19  3329  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 20  3291  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (NOV15, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     792659  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     470735  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     330033  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  4     328602  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  5     302318  LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  6     273060  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     272790  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  8     264664  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     263780  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 10     241985  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 11     237943  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 12     230003  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 13     227875  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 14     219433  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 15     216635  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16     209018  DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5)
 17     186393  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-573.3.1.el6.x86_64)
 18     182910  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19     182756  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 20     174408  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2015)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300761  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2      299633  NYSTEACHING@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  3      109575  COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  4       79693  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5       62696  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  6       41610  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  7       40988  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  8       34961  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  9       34588  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 10       33621  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 11       33588  EDREV@LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12       31565  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 13       30849  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14       28258  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 15       27850  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16       27728  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17       27427  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 18       26415  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 19       25431  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 20       24988  NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Solaris 2.9)