![[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 457481 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 2 378957 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 366420 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 4 359575 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen) 5 335861 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 6 300959 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 7 228305 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 219366 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 203634 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 10 200575 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 196678 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 176945 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 176217 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 175522 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 15 175456 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 16 174808 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 17 172664 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 18 165126 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 153789 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 20 149230 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2831211 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2359558 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1217557 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1165271 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 6 1059328 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 7 1047509 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 8 1020407 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 843307 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 10 831510 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 11 785834 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 758192 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 751881 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 751618 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 15 749955 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 16 721404 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 697292 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.13.ELsmp) 18 670242 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL) 19 665771 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL) 20 635316 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 26699 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 23004 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 10828 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 5 9744 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 6 9302 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 7 7278 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 8 7151 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 6564 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5) 10 5587 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 5542 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 12 5403 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 13 5166 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 14 4968 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 4909 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 4676 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 4421 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4397 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 3824 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 3466 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 443861 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 2 362858 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 356786 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 4 325050 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 5 296401 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 224697 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 7 198429 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 8 193779 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 9 179711 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 176163 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 11 175522 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 12 173415 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 13 172078 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 14 165859 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 164677 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 153201 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 17 143971 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 18 142203 LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 139825 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 20 137880 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows NT 5.2 Server)
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 86296 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 4 81923 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 77476 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74042 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 70384 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 64713 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 63828 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 52804 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 48058 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL) 12 46419 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 13 44831 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 14 42109 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 15 38359 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 16 36844 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36677 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36286 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 35516 EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0) 20 34582 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)