![[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 471245 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 2 467842 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 462546 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 432571 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 393625 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 6 378431 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen) 7 306232 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 8 301011 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 9 286033 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 280092 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 265478 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 264798 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 260727 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 14 248367 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 15 247163 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 16 236342 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 17 225783 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 211600 LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.315-s390x) 19 203225 MAESTRO3.AZCENTRAL.COM (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.13.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 199961 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2864390 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2361892 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1379902 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 4 1376032 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1132478 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 7 1025434 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 8 1000413 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 9 879026 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 10 855908 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 11 812097 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 12 803604 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 756711 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 14 744936 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 737771 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 16 712565 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 708798 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 18 707403 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 19 663452 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL) 20 653453 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 26281 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 22181 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 12137 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 5 11254 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 6 10636 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 7 7768 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 8 7074 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 6493 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.10.el5) 10 5698 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5524 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 5335 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 13 5052 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 14 4879 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 4829 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 4747 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4559 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 4352 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 3798 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 3410 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 463113 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 2 462883 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 446825 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 419189 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 5 384053 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 6 297252 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 278225 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 8 277218 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 270549 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 10 262750 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 247522 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 12 240118 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 234190 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 228370 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 221634 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 16 211037 LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.315-s390x) 17 193892 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 192130 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 187806 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 20 179091 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
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 79642 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 79516 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 5 77248 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74042 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 68919 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 64389 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 62332 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 52804 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 46424 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 12 46143 SURFSPOT@NIC.SURFNET.NL (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 44417 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 14 44410 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 42109 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.0.2.ELsmp) 16 37383 PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36859 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36695 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 19 35732 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 20 35042 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003)