![[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 851075 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 595072 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 384000 NEWSMAIL.WYANOKEGROUP.COM (Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 4 356134 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 5 355968 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 6 350003 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 349299 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 8 320768 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 9 317831 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 10 317173 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 11 296740 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 12 271415 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 13 263169 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64) 14 246781 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-371.9.1.el5) 15 238425 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9) 16 232622 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 17 232258 LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 18 230094 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 19 225697 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 214547 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4353541 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 2 3670661 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 3 1608235 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 4 1564016 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 5 1523141 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 6 1447145 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9) 7 1375117 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 8 1288914 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 9 1207079 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18) 10 1133148 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 11 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 12 1023714 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 13 1006245 LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34) 14 930580 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 15 827049 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0) 16 804935 LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.82) 17 751295 LISTS.ASU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 18 745940 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 19 745063 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 20 721956 LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 54494 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 2 32641 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 25183 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 4 12705 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 5 12153 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9) 6 9788 LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 7 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 8 8328 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.18) 9 7236 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 6428 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 6388 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 6225 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 13 5913 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 14 5854 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 15 5684 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.18) 16 5007 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 17 4304 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 18 3961 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 19 3844 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 3305 YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 828067 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 589568 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 355292 LISTSERV.MED.CORNELL.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 4 351854 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 5 347023 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 6 343963 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 316901 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 8 310627 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 9 274980 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 10 267330 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 11 263785 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 12 262545 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.8.1.el6.x86_64) 13 246614 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-371.9.1.el5) 14 234729 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9) 15 231483 LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 16 230182 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 17 223859 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 18 219393 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 19 212985 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 210395 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 288372 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.0.34) 2 109672 COMNET@HERMES.GWU.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 3 86994 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 4 81389 CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 5 74965 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 6 72327 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 7 66551 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 8 62956 EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 9 62026 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 10 59560 GLOBAL-LINKS@LISTSERV.ELCA.ORG (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 52803 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 12 49950 ESCRIU-ME@LISTSERV.UV.ES (Linux 2.6.32) 13 44053 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 14 40953 PRESIDENT@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 15 40419 OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1) 16 37250 CONNECT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 17 36668 WORLDWIDEWORDS@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG (Linux 3.0.101) 18 35744 FC-NYLIB@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.10) 19 35728 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Enterprise Server 2003) 20 34586 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2003)