3.1.1.1 Resource Counters

Resources SHOULD<4> provide counter information. Counters are read-only data sets that provide insights into the operation of the resource. Resources that return count information MUST return arrays of the ResourceCounter structure, called ResourceCounters, defined following.

The following property elements are valid for the ResourceCounter structure.

Element name	Type	Description
name	Read-only	A unique string identifier within the scope of the resource that returns the specific counter. Supported strings are described for each individual resource.
unit	Read-only	Decimal, Seconds, or MilliSeconds.
currentValue	Read-only	Integer value whose meaning is dependent on the unit.
context	Read-only	A structure that describes the source and category of the counter.
context.source	Read-only	For counters with the category Performance or Global source can be: NetworkController, SoftwareLoadBalancer, VirtualNetworkManager, VirtualSwitchManager, GatewayManager, or FirewallManager. For counters with the category Diagnostics the source string can be anything.
context.category	Read-only	Global, Performance, or Diagnostics.

Server implementations SHOULD return all counters with category Global and Performance as indicated for each resource type. Counters with category Diagnostics are implementation specific; they are meant to aid in debugging the specific server implementation.