Patent ID: 8189464

Claim:
A method comprising: updating a current value of a counter held in a first entry of a primary flow-counter bank (PFCB) when a packet in a first netflow is received, with the first entry indexed by a first index hashed from tuples in packets of the first netflow, with the PFCB maintained on a netflow processing logic block, with each entry in the PFCB associated with a netflow, with each entry in the PFCB having an index hashed from tuples in packets of an associated flow, and with each entry in the PFCB holding information identifying the associated netflow; searching a content addressable memory (CAM) when the current value overflows, with CAM entries holding a set of valid indices, to determine if the first index is included in the set of valid indices, where each CAM entry is associated with an overflow count value (OCV) entry in a custom memory that holds an OCV; incrementing a first OCV by an incremental value if the first index is a valid index held in a first CAM entry, where the first OCV is held in a first OCV entry associated with the first CAM entry holding the first index; consolidating the first OCV and the current value to form a total count value when the current value of the first counter is to be transferred to secondary storage; and transferring the total count value to an entry in secondary storage corresponding to the first netflow.