![[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 580612 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5xen) 2 460305 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 458922 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 4 446862 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 5 421751 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 6 414042 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 7 287295 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 8 273745 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 9 255968 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 10 251960 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5) 11 244301 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 241964 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 239740 LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.319-s390x) 14 228742 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 15 228305 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp) 16 227026 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 17 214860 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 18 210510 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 209717 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 20 209279 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2531085 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 2 2298187 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp) 3 1273680 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5) 4 1238524 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1129808 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 7 1102828 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 8 961114 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 933524 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp) 10 917085 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 881686 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 12 853737 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 13 832099 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 14 823793 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 15 797576 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 16 752213 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 17 745524 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 733158 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 19 710029 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 692161 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-40.EL)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 30236 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 26123 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 20553 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 10950 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5) 6 10801 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-78.0.8.ELsmp) 7 8676 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.22.18-grsec2.1.11-vs2.2.0.6) 8 8409 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 9 6956 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-164.6.1.el5) 10 6351 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 5916 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 5408 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 13 5388 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 5289 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 15 5260 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 5182 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 4441 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 18 4393 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 3962 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 3674 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 453918 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 2 439408 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 3 436768 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 4 409250 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 5 402454 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.24-etchnhalf.1-686-bigmem) 6 284390 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 7 271055 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 8 252789 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 9 247791 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.2.1.el5) 10 244593 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 239215 LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Linux (S/390) 2.6.5-7.319-s390x) 12 235589 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 228881 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-63.ELsmp) 14 212066 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 209730 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 16 208024 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 205148 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 203422 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 19 200737 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.16.ELsmp) 20 198150 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 193146 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.9-default) 2 88483 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 3 77289 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 74383 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 67582 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 64650 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 52803 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 45676 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 9 45111 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 43045 EPLUS@VM1.HQADMIN.DOE.GOV (VM/SP 3.0) 11 42929 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 12 38173 PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 13 37206 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 14 37027 FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 15 36950 SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 16 36771 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36597 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 34583 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 19 34548 STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 34477 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.10)