![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](https://www.lsoft.com/images/HDR-LISTSERV-sm.gif)
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).
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).
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 4194255 SMTP1.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2948073 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1746181 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1005501 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 956595 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 6 594736 LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 544846 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 543864 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 439886 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 406910 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 393053 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 370385 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 369231 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 14 327683 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 308908 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 293334 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 17 276225 LISTSERV.OIN3.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 255296 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 19 248302 LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 246100 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5207589 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4858075 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 4119999 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067162 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2496538 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1913083 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1729489 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1332017 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 1325384 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 857762 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 541862 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 13 521891 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 482698 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 15 459736 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 447449 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 17 432461 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 420012 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 296656 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 274560 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 8717 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4067 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 3 3921 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 4 3227 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2816 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2649 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2572 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 8 2505 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 2458 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2358 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 11 1952 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 1839 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 13 1762 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 1707 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 15 1701 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 1683 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1623 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 1529 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f) 19 1528 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 1509 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1746182 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1034494 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1008357 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 952398 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 5 696965 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 589355 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 539335 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 8 525991 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 370385 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 369232 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 11 341121 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 339242 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 327864 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 14 319271 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 312237 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 16 288923 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16) 17 280827 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 18 256885 LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 250759 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 222242 LIST.NEWSHOTLINE.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 499896 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 299943 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 275900 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 248659 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 228557 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 216288 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 186357 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 155399 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 134501 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 129286 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 127647 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 123529 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 111735 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 106660 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 18 104709 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 83726 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 77777 THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
