System Object

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

The System performance object consists of counters that apply to more than one component of the computer. The data collected by the system counters is derived from activity in the processor, memory, or disk subsystems.

Counter Name Description Counter Type

% Registry Quota In Use

Shows the percentage of the Total Registry Quota Allowed that was being used by the system.

PERF_RAW_FRACTION

Alignment Fixups/sec

Shows the rate, in incidents per second, at which alignment faults were fixed by the system.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

Context Switches/sec

Shows the combined rate, in incidents per second, at which all processors on the computer were switched from one thread to another. It is the sum of the values of Thread\Context Switches/sec for each thread running on all processors on the computer, and is measured in numbers of switches. Context switches occur when a running thread voluntarily relinquishes the processor, or is preempted by a higher priority, ready thread.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

Exception Dispatches/sec

Shows the rate, in incidents per second, at which exceptions were dispatched by the system.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

File Control Bytes/sec

Shows the overall rate, in incidents per second, at which bytes were transferred for all file system operations that were neither read nor write operations, such as file system control requests and requests for information about device characteristics or status.

PERF_COUNTER_BULK_COUNT

File Control Operations/sec

Shows the combined rate, in incidents per second, of file system operations that were neither read nor write operations, such as file system control requests and requests for information about device characteristics or status. This is the inverse of File Data Operations/sec.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

File Data Operations/sec

Shows the combined rate, in incidents per second, of read and write operations on disks, serial, or parallel devices. This is the inverse of File Control Operations/sec.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

File Read Bytes/sec

Shows the overall rate, in incidents per second, at which bytes were read to satisfy file system read requests to all devices on the computer, including read operations from the file system cache.

PERF_COUNTER_BULK_COUNT

File Read Operations/sec

Shows the combined rate, in incidents per second, of file system read requests to all devices on the computer, including requests to read from the file system cache.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

File Write Bytes/sec

Shows the overall rate, in incidents per second, at which bytes were written to satisfy file system write requests to all devices on the computer, including write operations to the file system cache.

PERF_COUNTER_BULK_COUNT

File Write Operations/sec

Shows the combined rate, in incidents per second, of file system write requests to all devices on the computer, including requests to write to data in the file system cache.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

Floating Emulations/sec

Shows the rate, in incidents per second, of floating emulations performed by the system.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

Processes

Shows the number of processes in the computer at the time of data collection. This is an instantaneous count, not an average over the time interval. Each process represents a program that is running.

PERF_COUNTER_RAWCOUNT

Processor Queue Length

Shows the number of threads in the processor queue. Unlike the disk counters, this counter shows ready threads only, not threads that are running. There is a single queue for processor time, even on computers with multiple processors. Therefore, if a computer has multiple processors, you need to divide this value by the number of processors servicing the workload. A sustained processor queue of greater than two threads generally indicates processor congestion.

PERF_COUNTER_RAWCOUNT

System Calls/sec

Shows the combined rate, in incidents per second, of calls to operating system service routines by all processes running on the computer. These routines perform all of the basic scheduling and synchronization of activities on the computer, and provide access to nongraphic devices, memory management, and name space management.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER

System Up Time

Shows the total time, in seconds, that the computer has been operational since it was last started.

PERF_ELAPSED_TIME

Threads

Shows the number of threads in the computer at the time of data collection. This is an instantaneous count, not an average over the time interval. A thread is the basic executable entity that can execute instructions in a processor.

PERF_COUNTER_COUNTER