![[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 4113354 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3373283 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2728562 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2101833 MAILSVRSQL.CLEARFLOW.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1111764 MAILSVR11.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1108919 LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1073404 MAILSVRSQL.KEVINVYE.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1061557 MAILSVRRS.KEVINVYE.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1018173 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 10 944452 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 900178 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 891841 EWMAIL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 882611 MAILSVRSQL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 649136 LSERV.OIN3.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 641763 LSERV.PMN00.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 590761 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 563195 EWMAIL2.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 482307 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 19 440228 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 427881 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5931898 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4864165 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 4821783 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2133957 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2066914 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1442203 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 9 1210983 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 670186 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 11 602074 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 582116 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 13 541456 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 512535 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 483930 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 16 477353 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 443901 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 370976 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 317342 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 312934 DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 10381 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4145 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 3 3532 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 3126 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 3083 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 3014 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 7 2875 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 2730 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 2664 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2004 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 1998 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 12 1973 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 1921 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 14 1877 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 15 1819 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 1764 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 17 1731 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 1719 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 1670 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 20 1617 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 3373286 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1011727 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 3 1002286 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 942924 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 736555 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 587440 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 477833 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 477303 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 383206 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 10 366499 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 352653 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 308295 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 13 299892 NEWS.DIETSMART.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 289587 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 276485 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16) 16 274762 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16) 17 272941 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 270857 LIST.PROMOTIONSERVER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 263371 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 240125 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 425733 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 337958 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 282309 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 262326 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 258250 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 256029 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 216001 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 161062 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 160777 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 12 157361 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 148616 THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 127172 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 125404 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 124814 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 112152 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 111164 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 101670 MONEYDAILY@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
