Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable modules for collecting and storing at least one metric that describes the operating condition of a computer component over a time interval, comprising:a configuration module for configuring a metric in accordance with user input, the metric comprising data concerning the operational condition of a computer component, the data concerning the operational condition of the computer component including normal as well as abnormal operating condition data;a data collection module for continuously collecting the metric;a central metrics storage module for storing the metric collected by the data collection module; andone or more component specific plug-ins that provide custom settings for the computer component that the metric concerns, the component specific plug-in including an item selected from the group consisting of a configuration plug-in, a data collection plug-in, and an IPF plug-in, wherein an IPF plug-in includes: (i) an IPF UI plug-in for setting one or more thresholds on a metric; and (ii) an IPF client plug-in for monitoring the metric at run time and taking appropriate action if the metric falls outside the thresholds; and wherein the data collection module: (i) feeds the metric to the IPF client plug-in; (ii) obtains a result from the IPF client plug-in; (iii) continues collecting the metric if the result is positive; and (iv) stops collecting the metric and removes the metric already collected if the result is negative. 2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising an analysis module for analyzing the metric. 3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the analysis module further includes an analysis UI. 4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the configuration module includes a configuration UI for receiving user input configuration information concerning the metric. 5. A computer-implemented method for collecting and storing at least one metric that describes the operating condition during run time of a client system, comprising:configuring a metric in accordance with the user input, the metric comprising data concerning the operating condition of the client system, the data concerning the operating condition of the client system including normal as well as abnormal operating condition data, wherein configuring a metric includes: (i) identifying a log file that records metric information during run time of a client system; (ii) specifying the time interval for storing the metric; and (iii) specifying the metric;collecting the metric during run time of the client system, at specified time intervals; andstoring the collected metric in a way that allows the metric to be analyzed and compared to metrics from other similar client systems. 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising monitoring the metric when collecting the metric. 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising analyzing the metric. 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein analyzing the metric includes analyzing the metric along with one or more other metrics. 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein analyzing the metric includes graphing the metric along with one or more other metrics. 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein specifying the metric includes selecting an information item from the group consisting of:events contained in an event log file on the client system;available performance counters on the client system;available data on drivers on the client system; andavailable processes on the client system. 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein configuring a metric further includes receiving component specific information. 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein storing the metric includes transforming the metric to a predefined format before storing the metric. 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein all metric data are stored in one location. 14. A computer-implemented method for collecting and storing at least one metric that describes the operating condition during run time of a client system, comprising:configuring a metric in accordance with the user input, the metric comprising data concerning the operating condition of the client system, the data concerning the operating condition of the client system including normal as well as abnormal operating condition data;collecting the metric during run time of the client system, at specified time intervals;storing the collected metric in a way that allows the metric to be analyzed and compared to metrics from other similar client systems; andmonitoring the metric when collecting the metric, monitoring the metric when collecting the metric including using one or more IPF client plug-ins to verify the metric. 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, further comprising:stopping collection of the metric if at least one IPF client plug-in returns a negative result; andcontinuing collection of the metric if the IPF client plug-in returns a positive result.