![[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 484856 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 428437 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 356813 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 4 292033 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 277842 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 6 273431 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 271046 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 8 259881 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 259517 MAILSENDER.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 247191 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 233500 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 12 232605 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 229283 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 193110 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 192078 LISTSERV.FUSEPOINT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 191024 PLAYBILLCLUB.HOSTING.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 17 170616 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 18 163783 WILDEBEEST.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 162385 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 20 162194 LISTS.AIESEC.NET (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3924286 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2358292 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 3 2102370 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 1532644 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 943612 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 943281 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 8 915921 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 870697 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 10 769746 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 764670 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 763644 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 13 750161 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 714494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 704106 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 628397 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 18 619053 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 19 613688 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 593935 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 53987 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 24699 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 22872 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 9454 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 6 7898 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 6615 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 8 6464 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 9 6063 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5729 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 5137 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 4810 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 13 4768 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 14 4750 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 4649 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 16 4467 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 17 4021 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 3973 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3093 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 2905 LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 488009 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 316234 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 3 285974 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 4 268098 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 5 260074 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 255738 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 7 252746 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 236083 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 9 232605 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 224635 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 219278 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 191024 PLAYBILLCLUB.HOSTING.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 163344 LISTS.AIESEC.NET (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp) 14 159012 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 15 158155 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 157091 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 156966 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 18 155088 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 19 152650 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 20 133388 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 377587 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 139758 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 4 107142 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.11.4-21.14-smp) 5 80408 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 6 79270 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 7 73761 L-ADMISSIONS-WIRE-A@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 67260 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 64497 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 10 63128 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 11 55983 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 12 54328 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 52907 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 52810 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 15 48424 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 48195 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 17 45573 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 18 43700 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 43251 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 20 40190 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)