![[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 369257 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 339305 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 338460 MAESTRO3.AZCENTRAL.COM (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 336122 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 322829 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 296060 MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 294033 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 289225 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.9.ELsmp) 9 271058 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 10 270166 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 11 227697 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 203013 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 183935 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 14 173228 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 165086 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 156369 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 17 153397 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 18 152865 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 19 152351 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 20 147890 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2307429 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-52.ELsmp) 2 2220973 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 1962066 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 1476335 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1131051 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.9.ELsmp) 7 1079679 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 927213 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 9 867404 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.21.7-grsec2.1.10-200706182032-vs2.2.0.3) 10 856230 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 11 855910 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 825854 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 802340 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 14 790755 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 747906 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 746613 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 717828 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 705118 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 701513 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 49424 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 23697 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-52.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 18003 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 10353 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.21.7-grsec2.1.10-200706182032-vs2.2.0.3) 6 9806 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 7 9088 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 8187 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 6538 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 6343 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 5706 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 5216 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 13 4938 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 14 4917 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.9.ELsmp) 15 4916 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 4847 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 4147 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 18 4131 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 4012 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 4006 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 329171 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 322205 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 3 290839 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 279331 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.9.ELsmp) 5 262313 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 6 238614 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 7 223619 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 200998 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 176984 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 166777 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 162622 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 153568 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 13 151736 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 14 149219 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 147890 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 136782 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 17 135206 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 18 131488 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 19 128202 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 20 125700 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 127083 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.3-default) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 117128 MARKETPLACE@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 87521 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 5 78645 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74026 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 67565 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 66198 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 65221 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 59145 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 11 57863 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.21.7-grsec2.1.10-200706182032-vs2.2.0.3) 12 52807 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 13 49492 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 14 48401 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 15 46495 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 16 45434 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 44848 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 18 37932 NOTICE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 36990 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 36837 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)