![[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 416646 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 2 400091 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 331548 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 4 322564 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 269453 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 264614 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 7 264086 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 8 243982 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 9 236014 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 232951 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5xen) 11 193114 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 12 192017 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 185649 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 166656 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 15 160280 LISTS.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5) 16 159949 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 17 159678 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 18 147691 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 19 145800 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 139372 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2205142 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 1930320 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 1200815 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 5 1118843 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 6 1041150 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 929053 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 920750 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 9 913392 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 871563 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 11 822853 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 778322 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 13 747959 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 14 725827 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 695259 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 689708 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 17 688155 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 666625 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.5-smp) 19 664421 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 20 629900 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 20097 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 3 10698 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 4 10620 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 5 9402 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 6 9297 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 7 9100 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 8 6605 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 9 6517 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 5314 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5202 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 5191 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 5125 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5049 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.5-smp) 15 5041 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 16 4368 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4199 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 18 4094 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 3650 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 3186 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 401634 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 2 323855 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-67.0.15.ELsmp) 3 313812 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 4 263185 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 262775 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 240216 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 235350 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 8 231203 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 192017 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 187838 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 11 178537 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 160298 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 160280 LISTS.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-53.1.14.el5) 14 158154 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 15 148385 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 142182 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 17 139351 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 135603 LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 123359 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003) 20 119777 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 127083 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.9-default) 2 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 3 96893 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 4 78335 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 77640 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74032 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 71884 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 65832 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64929 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 58842 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 52806 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 47273 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 13 46474 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 14 46145 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 44548 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 16 40634 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 17 37837 NOTICE-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36942 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 36784 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 35162 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)