[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 2016


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 (DEC16, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     599981  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     335785  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     269316  NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  4     262973  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 4.4.24-1-pve)
  5     253786  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  6     216549  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  7     193732  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  8     182916  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  9     176915  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     176556  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 11     166617  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 12     162313  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 13     151418  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14     139122  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 15     137706  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 16     132034  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 17     131105  DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic)
 18     130515  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19     124005  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-642.3.1.el6.x86_64)
 20     123451  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2016)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     5051847  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     4126078  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1794131  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1769546  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1473967  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  6     1272926  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  7     1251024  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     1243727  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  9     1063959  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1054495  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 12     1052320  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 13      941371  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14      940937  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15      938899  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 16      818258  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 17      785561  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18      768578  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19      756960  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20      754457  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Dec 2016)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 33385  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2 19014  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 14057  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  4 12295  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  7478  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8  7169  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
  9  6845  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 10  6591  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 11  6448  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 12  5681  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 13  5522  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  4316  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 15  4009  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 16  3918  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17  3770  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 18  3697  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 19  3673  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3525  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC16, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     578006  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     331023  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     249419  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  4     200793  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
  5     191076  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
  6     181421  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  7     172315  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  8     164033  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
  9     155589  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 10     146823  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     144088  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 12     136877  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 13     126894  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 14     126669  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82)
 15     122834  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-642.3.1.el6.x86_64)
 16     121957  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 17     120106  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 18     119122  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 19     114051  LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 20     112321  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2016)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300691  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2       75738  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  3       62573  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  4       54051  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (AIX 5.3)
  5       41502  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  6       36147  CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  7       34927  ASMSU@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  8       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  9       33620  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 10       32917  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 11       30848  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 12       29317  L-FACSTAFF-NEWSWIRE-UP@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 13       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 15       28900  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 16       28361  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 17       27717  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 18       27417  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 19       26420  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 20       26106  CSTORE@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)