USER-DEFINED COUNTERS V2K
System and database administrators use the Windows NT/2000 native 
performance monitor to keep watch over their systems and SQL Server 
processes. However, you can also define a SQL Server counter that can 
monitor application level items. Use the following system stored 
procedures to update up to 10 user-defined counters that can be 
displayed in Performance Monitor.

sp_user_counter1  
sp_user_counter2  
. 
. 
sp_user_counter10 

Consider the following scenario:

You have a table that tracks inbound customer service telephone calls. 
By using the following code in an insert trigger on the InboundCalls 
table, you can display the current number of calls received.

DECLARE @num INT 
SELECT @num = COUNT(*) FROM InboundCalls 
EXEC sp_user_counter1 @num

The counter "User Counter 1" pertains to the "MSSQL: User Settable" 
performance object that can be displayed in the Performance Monitor 
application.

NOTE: These counters can only relay integer information, and intensive 
queries should be avoided for performance reasons.

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