![[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 522700 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 2 440951 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 412580 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 355450 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 5 333175 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 6 328643 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 7 298193 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 8 288424 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 9 279864 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 278198 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 11 245999 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 232813 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 215616 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 194676 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 182728 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 16 176409 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 175846 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 18 175839 SPECIALNEEDS.HOSTING.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 172419 LIST.VENTUREWIRE.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 166084 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3776034 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2147966 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 1897280 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 4 1254016 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 990869 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 974617 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 894690 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 806863 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 10 798955 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 11 791712 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 12 769767 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 741577 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 740339 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 15 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 703740 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 17 666834 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 646567 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 19 621918 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 604415 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 54532 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 19416 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 18523 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 5 9951 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 6 8944 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 7 6381 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 5850 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 5489 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 5245 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 11 4756 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 4521 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 13 4492 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 14 4262 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 4173 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 4120 MARIST (VM/SP 1.0) 17 4076 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 18 3871 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3789 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 2936 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 503067 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 2 444054 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 339486 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 4 319578 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.ELsmp) 5 314205 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 6 282874 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 282699 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 8 281625 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 281245 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 10 242028 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 226193 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 12 215616 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 188545 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 167066 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 15 166077 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 158863 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 153814 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 18 149262 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 148575 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 135060 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 374754 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 122841 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 112298 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 98779 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.11.4-21.12-smp) 5 81354 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 6 77112 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 75438 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 8 68774 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 65906 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 10 63606 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 11 54226 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 12 52955 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp) 13 52814 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 14 51742 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 15 47429 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 44605 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 17 42343 TSTB@LISTSERV.SDE.STATE.SC.US (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 42230 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 38595 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 37069 DARTMOUTH-ALUMNI-TRAVEL@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)