![[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 390334 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen) 2 385923 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 3 381956 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 4 358560 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 303642 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 6 270240 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 7 254480 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 8 218676 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 9 214547 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 198365 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 11 188462 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 12 185655 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 185362 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 177153 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 15 174945 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 168559 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 17 166664 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 158313 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 19 156761 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 156227 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2732552 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 2 2191301 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1437778 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1142431 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 6 1099770 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 7 1031158 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 8 1027860 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 9 917757 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 10 889823 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 881283 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 12 830697 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 13 807531 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL) 14 769363 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 752213 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 16 743622 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 17 727436 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 671317 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.13.ELsmp) 19 661232 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL) 20 645140 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 27374 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 24253 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-57.ELsmp) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 12868 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 5 11031 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.1.ELsmp) 6 9952 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 7 7437 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 7295 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 9 6623 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5) 10 5916 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5703 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 5408 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.8-smp) 13 5054 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5037 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 4865 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 4749 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 17 4441 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4393 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 3829 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 3432 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 373213 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 2 368601 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.5.ELsmp) 3 354096 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 293289 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 5 262422 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 6 222978 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 7 218679 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 8 211246 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 9 195911 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 10 185913 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 182715 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 177170 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 13 176099 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 161580 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 160192 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 16 157059 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 156766 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 18 154549 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 19 131287 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 129149 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 89228 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 4 83843 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 77394 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 74042 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 7 71504 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 65120 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 9 64736 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 52804 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 11 44999 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 44333 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 13 44300 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-58.EL) 14 42109 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.ELsmp) 15 37106 STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 36823 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36656 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 36509 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)