![[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 2831114 LSRV.ORIGINALKEEPSAKE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2810052 LSRV.ORIGINALFONDNESS.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1272816 LSRV.TRACEDTRACTION.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 451242 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 446179 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 6 416396 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 403074 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 378722 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 9 377665 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 350265 MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 333609 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 12 325168 MAESTRO3.AZCENTRAL.COM (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 308028 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 299291 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 15 275654 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 263744 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 263337 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 262801 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 19 243968 LISTSERV.SHAW.CA (Linux 2.6.9-5.ELsmp) 20 234122 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2394980 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2086015 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 3 1982016 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 1949642 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1114317 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 1088257 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 902494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server) 9 893861 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 10 818833 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 11 808984 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 12 802571 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 785117 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 14 772711 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 768988 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 747908 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 17 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 714383 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 19 675744 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 20 660644 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 40671 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 19669 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 18160 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 11430 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 6 10357 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 7 8661 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 8009 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 6483 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 6327 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 11 6311 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 12 5653 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 13 5578 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 4847 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 4845 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 16 4817 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 4742 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 4199 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 4120 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 4119 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 440939 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 438028 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 3 399808 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 370961 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 318807 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 6 307567 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 271490 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 263274 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 260255 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 256823 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 238294 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 12 228319 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 13 226035 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 221708 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 15 214280 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 16 204907 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 201613 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 185993 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 183685 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 181693 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 123863 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.3-default) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 86364 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 79555 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 74043 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 6 73915 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 65647 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 64542 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 57383 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 10 54602 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 52807 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 48208 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46994 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 14 45344 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 43629 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 42500 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 17 37722 NOTICE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 37008 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 36854 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 34520 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)