Microsoft Exchange Performance Counters

Microsoft Exchange Common Processor and Process counters

The following table provides information about processor and process counters.

Counter Name	Description
Process(*)\% Processor Time	Shows the percentage of elapsed processor time that all process threads used to execute instructions. An instruction is the basic unit of execution in a computer. A thread is the object that executes instructions, and a process is the object created when a program is run. Code executed to handle some hardware interruptions and trap conditions are included in this count.
Processor(_Total)\% Privileged Time	Shows the percentage of processor time spent in privileged mode. Privileged mode is a processing mode designed for operating system components and hardware-manipulating drivers. It allows direct access to hardware and all memory.
Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time	Shows the percentage of time that the processor is executing application or operating system processes. This is when the processor isn't idle.
Processor(_Total)\% User Time	Shows the percentage of processor time spent in user mode. User mode is a restricted processing mode designed for applications, environment subsystems, and integral subsystems.
System\Processor Queue Length (all instances)	Indicates the number of threads each processor is servicing. Processor Queue Length can be used to identify if processor contention or high CPU utilization is caused by the processor capacity being insufficient to handle the workloads assigned to it. Processor Queue Length shows the number of threads that are delayed in the Processor Ready Queue and are waiting to be scheduled for execution. The value listed is the last observed value at the time the measurement was taken.