[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – December 2017


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 (DEC17, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     590358  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     317809  LSERV.CARDSYS.AT (Linux 4.4.67-1-pve)
  3     311301  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     223146  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  5     199198  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     192222  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     180885  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
  8     180877  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  9     174152  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 10     170159  DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic)
 11     167886  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 12     167801  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 13     162182  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     142556  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15     134422  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.6.3.el6.x86_64)
 16     132353  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 17     126457  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 18     122844  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 19     121403  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20     116273  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2017)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     5282766  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     4186712  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  3     1929822  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1586936  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1407622  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  6     1319971  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  7     1300414  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     1293277  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  9     1185205  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 11     1011456  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12     1009235  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
 13      944029  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
 14      934700  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 15      818258  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 16      808737  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 17      784635  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 18      767668  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 19      755003  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20      738565  LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Dec 2017)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 33630  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
  2 16707  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 14011  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  4 13139  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  7787  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
  8  7254  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  9  6811  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 10  6572  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 11  6262  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  5704  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 13  5471  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14  5165  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4386  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 16  4340  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 17  4043  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 18  3978  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 19  3848  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10)
 20  3721  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (DEC17, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     566947  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     306737  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3     221298  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  4     191649  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     190219  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  6     178199  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
  7     176428  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11)
  8     171431  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  9     150181  LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10)
 10     139117  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11     133313  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-696.6.3.el6.x86_64)
 12     132012  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 13     126042  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14     123859  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 15     121380  LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 16     117676  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 17     114494  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
 18     107680  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18)
 19     107603  LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 20     107244  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Dec 2017)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300656  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34)
  2       62485  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  3       54050  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0)
  4       41750  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1)
  5       39677  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6       36295  CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
  7       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  8       34346  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  9       33612  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 10       30848  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11       29209  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 13       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       28346  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 15       27711  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 16       27415  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 17       26419  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 18       24990  NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 19       23805  ISMA@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 20       23329  ECF-EDNY@NYED.USCOURTS.GOV (Linux 2.6.32)