![[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 562671 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 449863 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 3 432287 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 413618 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 5 395409 MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 387321 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 7 357244 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 307992 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 291119 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 286258 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 253267 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 234752 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 219327 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 14 211950 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 203230 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 16 200796 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 17 195339 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 190262 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 187854 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 20 186512 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2258946 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 1982963 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-52.ELsmp) 3 1922261 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 1217914 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1115834 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 1098387 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 8 1011088 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 9 888576 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 10 884153 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 876902 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 12 841673 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 839892 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.21.7-grsec2.1.10-200706182032-vs2.2.0.3) 14 774222 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 15 747906 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 721396 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 17 713024 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 703790 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 693298 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 20 667607 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 49728 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 3 18234 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-52.ELsmp) 4 12811 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 5 11955 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 6 10379 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.21.7-grsec2.1.10-200706182032-vs2.2.0.3) 7 10350 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 8 10047 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 9 8827 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 10 6549 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 11 6404 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 12 5582 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 13 5382 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 14 5020 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 5010 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 4953 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 17 4936 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4930 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 19 4147 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 4067 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 433804 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 2 418650 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 402840 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.1.ELsmp) 4 378710 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 353847 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 286903 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 285187 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 8 271583 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 244686 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 231885 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 214159 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 12 203867 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 194423 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 14 192294 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 190262 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 189821 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 187133 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 18 182513 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 19 168997 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 20 158468 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 127083 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.7-default) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 88743 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 78514 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 74027 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 6 69001 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 66089 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 65047 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 59142 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 10 58222 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.21.7-grsec2.1.10-200706182032-vs2.2.0.3) 11 52807 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 50895 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 13 47739 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 14 46487 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 15 46155 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 44773 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 17 37916 NOTICE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36979 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 36823 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 34479 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)