1. A counter updating system, comprising: an update mechanism for updating a counter system portion according to at least one substantially real-time update interval, the updating including updating a counter bank portion, updating an overflow buffer portion if the counter bank portion updating causes a counter overflow, and updating a secondary storage portion with values corresponding to the counter bank portion if the overflow buffer is not empty or if the counter bank has been modified; and a different counter utilization mechanism coupled to the update mechanism for determining counter information stored by at least one of the counter bank portion, the overflow buffer portion and the secondary storage portion without substantially delaying updating by the update mechanism.