![[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 809686 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 653719 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 3 527907 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 4 282512 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 5 265097 DIGITAL.ANNEXBUSINESSMEDIA.COM (Linux 3.13.0-32-generic) 6 258743 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 7 257961 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 8 253740 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 9 248778 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 10 246375 LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition) 11 244058 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 12 243975 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 13 242391 LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 14 218954 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 15 217342 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 16 204616 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.3.5.el6.x86_64) 17 204319 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 18 186828 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5) 19 186660 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 20 177645 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5346664 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 2 3483470 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 3 2123561 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 4 1366587 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 5 1337078 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 6 1325056 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 1282581 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 8 1276177 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 9 1151667 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 10 1059036 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 11 991063 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 944029 LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 13 831417 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 14 818258 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 4.0) 15 816258 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 16 791651 LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 17 785744 LISTSERV.UA.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 18 784373 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 19 755113 LISTSERV.ECU.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 733167 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 27301 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 2 16972 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 3 14220 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 4 11433 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9) 5 9788 LISTS.CLEMSON.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 6 9599 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 7 8079 LISTSERV.TECHNION.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.32) 8 7603 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 9 6743 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 10 6621 LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 11 5577 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 5513 LISTS.UMN.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 13 5110 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 14 4450 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 15 4372 LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 16 4370 LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 17 3938 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 18 3907 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.10) 19 3862 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 20 3701 YORKU.CA (Linux 2.6.32)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 782157 JISCMAIL.AC.UK (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 2 652713 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 3 522780 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 4 270362 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Linux 2.6.32) 5 258610 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.6.18) 6 251994 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 7 245754 LIST.ETSI.ORG (Windows Server 2016 Datacenter x64 Edition) 8 243919 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.11) 9 242679 LISTS.UFL.EDU (Linux 2.6.18) 10 242351 LISTS.UCDENVER.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 11 228926 LISTSERV.UMD.EDU (SunOS 5.10) 12 215806 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 13 214467 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Linux 2.6.32-504.3.3.el6.x86_64) 14 203415 LISTS.HAWAII.EDU (Linux 2.6.32-754.3.5.el6.x86_64) 15 201633 LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 16 193972 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 17 186683 DISCUSSIONS.EQ.EDU.AU (Linux 2.6.18-404.el5) 18 175962 LIST.UVM.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 19 171582 LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 20 166804 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 300656 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 2 62383 EXCEL@LISTSERV.UTA.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 3 62163 CAREERCENTERUPDATE@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 4 54050 AMIS-CNRS-INTERNATIONAL-L@IN2P3.FR (Linux 3.10.0) 5 42118 SAFETYNOTICE@LISTSERV.UC.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition) 6 41762 OPSWNEWS@LISTSERV.NYSED.GOV (AIX 7.1) 7 39635 CMU-BASKETBALL@LS2.CMICH.EDU (Linux 3.10.0) 8 34587 TCUATHLETICSDIRECTOR@LISTSERV.TCU.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 9 33604 L-SMEAL-REPORT@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 10 30835 FOCIS_GROUP@LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 11 29214 HALLCOLIBRARY-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.32) 12 28918 BEDRIJVENLIJST@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 13 28918 BEDRIJVENLIJST2@LS.KULEUVEN.BE (Linux 2.6.32) 14 28320 L-THON-NEWS@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 6.1) 15 27709 RECREATION@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 16 27405 VOLUPDATE@LISTSERV.UTK.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 17 27079 HINDU-D@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition) 18 26418 PARENTS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Linux 3.0.101) 19 25167 CANVASSTUDENTS_AUTO@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU (Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64 Edition) 20 24990 NCHPAD-NEWS@LISTSERV.UAB.EDU (Linux 2.6.32)