The following are descriptions of valid characteristics, counters,
 and status attributes:

 CHARACTERISTICS

 Future Skew

 Specifies the maximum amount of time that a timestamp can vary from
 local system time at the server node. This characteristic ensures
 data consistency.

 Maximum Protocol Version

 Specifies the maximum version of the DECdns clerk/server protocol
 that this particular DECdns server supports.

 Minimum Protocol Version

 Specifies the minimum version of the DECdns clerk/server protocol
 that this particular DECdns server supports.

 UID

 Uniquely identifies the entity.

 Version

 Specifies the version of the architecture implemented by this
 server.

 COUNTERS

 Authentication Failures

 Specifies
 the number of times a requesting principal failed authentication
 procedures.

 Child Pointer Update Failures

 Specifies the number of times the server background process was
 unable to contact all the clearinghouses where a replica of a
 particular child directory's parent directory is stored, and was
 therefore unable to apply the child updates that have occurred since
 the last skulk. This counter increases by one at each occurrence of
 the Cannot Update Child Pointer event.

 Creation Time

 Specifies the time when the DECdns server entity was created.

 Crucial Replica Removals Backed Out

 Specifies the number of times a user attempted (from this server)
 to remove a replica that is crucial to the connectivity of a
 directory hierarchy. The server background process prevents users
 from accidentally disconnecting lower-level directories from higher-
 level directories. When it detects an attempt to remove a crucial
 replica, it will not execute the command to do so. This counter
 increases by one at each occurrence of the Crucial Replica event.

 Incompatible Protocol Errors

 Accounts for the total number of requests received by this server
 from a clerk running an incompatible protocol version. A server can
 communicate with any clerk running the same protocol version, or the
 version previous to the one it is running. This counter increases by
 one at each occurrence of the Incompatible Request event.

 Possible Cycles

 Specifies the number of times this server followed a chain and
 encountered an entry already in the chain. For example, a soft link
 is created that points to a series of links that eventually point
 back to the first link, or a group which is a member of itself. This
 counter increases by one at occurrence of the Possible Cycles event.

 Read Accesses

 Specifies the number of read operations directed to this DECdns
 server.

 Security Failures

 Specifies the number of times the Security Failures event was
 generated. This counter is increased whenever a DECdns server has
 insufficient access rights to a directory or object to perform
 either a client-requested action or a background operation.

 Skulks Completed

 Specifies the number of skulks that were successfully completed by
 this DECdns server.

 Skulks Initiated

 Specifies the number of skulks that were initiated by this DECdns
 server.

 Times Lookup Paths Broken

 Specifies the number of broken connections between clearinghouses
 on this server and clearinghouses closer to the root. Incoming
 requests to this server that require a downward lookup in the
 directory hierarchy may still succeed, but requests requiring lookup
 in directories closer to the root will fail. This counter increases
 by one at each occurrence of the Broken Lookup Paths event.

 Write Accesses

 Specifies the number of write operations to this DECdns server.

 STATUS ATTRIBUTES

 State

 Specifies the state of the DECdns server.

 Broken     The server has a fatal error condition.
 Initial    The server is initializing.
 Off        The server is not available.
 On         The server is running and available.
 Shut       The server is undergoing an orderly shutdown.