Patent ID: 8126753

Claim:
A method of responding to a request for a value of at least one metric associated with at least one process, the method comprising the steps of: determining whether responding to the request requires updating the value of the at least one metric; when responding to the request does not require updating the value of the at least one metric, determining a response based at least in part on at least one stored value of the at least one metric; when responding to the request does require updating the value of the at least one metric, updating the value of the at least one metric and determining a response based at least in part on the at least one updated value of the at least one metric; and responding to the request with the determined response; wherein updating the value of the at least one metric, at least when responding to the request requires updating the value of the at least one metric, comprises the steps of: determining the at least one updated value of the at least one metric based at least in part on the at least one stored value of the at least one metric; and storing the at least one updated value of the at least one metric; and wherein the steps are performed by a processor.