| Consumer | A software that uses the collected data, such as the built-in tools Task manager, typeperf.exe, Resource monitor, Performance monitor, logman.exe or relog.exe. |
| Provider | A software that creates the data which might or might not be used by a consumer. There are V1 and V2 providers. |
| Counterset | A group of performance data of one provider |
| Counter | A single piece of collected data. A counter has a name and a type |
| Counter value | The 32-bit or 64-bit value of a Counter. |
| Instance | An «entity» about which data (Counter values) is collected. An instance has a name. |