[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – January 2020


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 (JAN20, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     786695  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     594149  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  3     341561  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     326530  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     284002  LISTSERV.DOR.WA.GOV (Linux 3.10.0-1062.4.3.el7.x86_64)
  6     263065  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  7     213870  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     212227  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     195725  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 10     189718  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 11     182231  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.25.1.el6.x86_64)
 12     177241  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 13     171783  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 14     155384  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 15     151796  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 16     147966  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 17     136111  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition)
 18     129689  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 19     128841  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 20     121984  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (29 Jan 2020)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     5065895  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  2     3915475  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  3     2248198  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
  4     1548082  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     1417407  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  6     1282581  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  7     1281564  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  8     1224033  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     1096274  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 10     1059036  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 11      982099  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 12      944029  LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 13      864455  LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 14      855538  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 15      850331  LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 4.12.14)
 16      835970  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition)
 17      822736  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18      818258  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0)
 19      784809  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 20      748266  LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (29 Jan 2020)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 27620  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  2 16558  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  3 12721  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9)
  4  9788  LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18)
  5  9599  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  6  8153  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
  7  8079  LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32)
  8  7233  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  9  6704  LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition)
 10  6514  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 11  6156  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 12  5467  LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 13  5049  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 14  4939  LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 15  4372  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
 16  4171  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition)
 17  4073  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 18  3998  LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
 19  3907  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 20  3567  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JAN20, 1-29)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     757878  JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
  2     593161  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
  3     337626  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  4     315935  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32)
  5     283317  LISTSERV.DOR.WA.GOV (Linux 3.10.0-1062.4.3.el7.x86_64)
  6     262912  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 3.10.0)
  7     212612  LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  8     207694  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  9     180538  LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.25.1.el6.x86_64)
 10     174558  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
 11     168983  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 12     151108  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)
 13     150640  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 14     148980  LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 15     145588  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 16     129472  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64)
 17     128820  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2019 Standard x64 Edition)
 18     128053  LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
 19     121571  LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 20     117989  LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 3.10.0)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (29 Jan 2020)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      300656  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
  2       59384  CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
  3       54050  AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0)
  4       43980  SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
  5       41763  OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (Linux 4.12.14)
  6       36688  CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
  7       34587  TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition)
  8       33600  L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
  9       30835  FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 10       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 11       28918  BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 12       28310  L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1)
 13       28081  HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
 14       27709  RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2016 Standard x64 Edition)
 15       27399  VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 16       26419  PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101)
 17       25008  2019-STEM-EVENT-L@LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows Server 2012 Datacenter x64 Edition)
 18       24992  NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
 19       24688  ISMA@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32)
 20       24440  EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition)