![[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 700989 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 402899 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem) 3 375717 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 368149 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 5 258387 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-274.17.1.el5) 6 250884 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 7 233147 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 8 207325 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 9 195570 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.4.1.el5) 10 185038 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 182582 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.8.1.el5xen) 12 172271 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.13-0.27-default) 13 165662 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 14 164852 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 15 160878 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5) 16 158956 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 154192 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 18 150066 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 19 148516 LIST.LGOV.ORG (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 146447 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3396587 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 2 3199067 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5) 3 1280728 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-274.17.1.el5) 4 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 1197818 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp) 6 1151962 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 7 1144203 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp) 8 1094200 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64) 9 1071050 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 10 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.4.1.el5) 11 948205 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 885127 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.1.1.el5) 13 873455 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 857729 LISTSERV.KSU.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 846519 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0) 16 797829 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp) 17 796784 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 18 791719 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.13-0.27-default) 19 756619 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 20 753627 LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.59-0.3-default)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 32154 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 30027 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 3 23212 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5) 4 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 5 12465 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-103.ELsmp) 6 11420 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-89.0.25.ELsmp) 7 9740 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18-238.9.1.el5) 8 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.4.1.el5) 9 7667 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18-308.el5) 10 6610 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 6502 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64) 12 6062 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.13-0.27-default) 13 6029 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 14 5807 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 15 4881 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 16 4848 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-274.17.1.el5) 17 4414 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 18 4031 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 19 3890 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9) 20 3888 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 684167 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 390582 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-5-686-bigmem) 3 370760 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 4 358342 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 5 249535 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-274.17.1.el5) 6 239334 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 7 229166 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 8 206924 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 9 188762 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.4.1.el5) 10 181268 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 11 173055 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18-308.8.1.el5xen) 12 168595 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.13-0.27-default) 13 160762 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-274.18.1.el5) 14 157774 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 15 157106 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 16 148339 LIST.LGOV.ORG (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 145800 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 18 141465 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 19 137317 MAIL.NACBA.ORG (Linux 2.6.26-2-amd64) 20 135795 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 240273 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32.59-0.3-default) 2 86994 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 3 74965 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 72327 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 5 66551 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 64630 GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 62026 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 58772 COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-220.7.1.el6.x86_64) 9 52803 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 51500 UICNEWS@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 11 50075 FOLKWAYS@SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 44053 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 13 43517 STUDENT-AT-TENNESSEE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 14 37250 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 15 36937 SKILLPORT-UHMAIN-STUDENTS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 16 36636 EVENTS-NEWSLETTER-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 17 36452 DIVERSITY-NEWS-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition) 18 35744 FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 34584 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 20 34482 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.10)