![[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 594052 XB1.BOOKSAMILLION.COM (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5xen) 2 397335 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 3 389521 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem) 4 344207 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 316362 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 6 292238 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 7 207604 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 8 194859 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 9 187720 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 10 183411 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 11 180156 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 12 177654 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 13 170144 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 14 169495 MAIL.MYVALOTTERY.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 169295 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 16 167197 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 17 165868 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 155386 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 19 148557 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 20 147091 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3044803 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5) 2 2951634 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 1236540 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1168302 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 6 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 7 1048790 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp) 8 995853 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 995830 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp) 10 981759 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 961820 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 12 954059 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 13 907518 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 892579 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 1.0) 15 854511 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 16 853815 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 17 834465 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 827490 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 751295 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-128.1.10.el5.xs5.5.0.51xen) 20 738913 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.33.1.ELsmp)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 33872 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 28049 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 21834 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-238.5.1.el5) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 11849 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.29.ELsmp) 6 9827 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp) 7 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 8 8981 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 9 7311 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-238.1.1.el5) 10 6341 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 11 6296 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 6159 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 13 5954 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 14 5719 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen) 15 5602 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 16 4816 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 17 4697 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 18 4234 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 19 4068 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 4023 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 387779 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 2 377689 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem) 3 339157 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 306794 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.35.1.ELsmp) 5 280884 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 6 203210 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 7 189200 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 8 182799 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 9 175422 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 10 174031 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-194.11.3.el5) 11 170186 NERDALERT.THENERDS.NET (Linux 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5) 12 166141 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 13 165297 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 14 156560 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 152740 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 146502 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 145596 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.9) 18 145351 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 135583 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.12-0.7-xen) 20 133307 BCU.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 221022 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.27.54-0.2-default) 2 86994 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 3 75726 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 72327 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 66547 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 63006 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 52803 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 49032 COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.16.54-0.2.12-smp) 9 44446 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 43683 FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 41517 JAGNEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 12 40918 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 13 39373 GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 37547 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 36946 SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 16 36675 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 36492 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 35137 FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 35088 STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 34584 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)