![[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 431999 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen) 2 380893 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 3 378266 MAESTRO3.AZCENTRAL.COM (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.13.ELsmp + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 322236 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 5 316088 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 6 292173 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 7 280804 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 256986 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 9 232992 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 217370 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 174925 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 12 172096 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 13 170861 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 163252 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 15 163198 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 16 158164 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 17 157955 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 18 156043 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 19 149673 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 20 139466 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2654224 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2230192 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1276182 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1079356 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 6 1047883 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 7 1025365 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 1017864 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 873959 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 851742 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 11 830697 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 12 766841 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 13 762636 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 759068 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 15 752213 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 16 729921 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL) 17 720487 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 670255 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.13.ELsmp) 19 659825 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL) 20 640354 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 27262 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 23378 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 11030 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 5 10377 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 6 9938 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 7 8778 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 8 7363 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 7295 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 10 6611 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5) 11 5831 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 12 5650 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 5408 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 14 5016 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 4962 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 4748 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 4621 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 18 4434 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 19 4393 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 3826 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 367625 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 2 309978 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 3 307490 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 4 287906 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 225381 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 225160 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 7 214068 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 178235 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 9 173038 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 10 169378 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 161379 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 12 158034 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 151679 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 14 150776 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 149674 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 16 139718 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows NT 5.2 Server) 17 136869 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 18 123491 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 19 123281 LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 120508 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL)
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 88020 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 4 82955 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 77399 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74042 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 71080 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 64745 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64479 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 52804 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 44974 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 44371 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 13 43852 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL) 14 42109 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 15 36829 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 16 36662 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36480 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 18 35516 EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0) 19 34582 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 20 34474 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.10)