An entry describes a flow monitor, which represents a hardware or software entity that classifies traffic flows, monitors flow data, and periodically computes flow metrics.

A simple device may only support a single flow monitor, where a more sophisticated device may support more than one flow monitor.

A device supporting multiple flow monitors creates a row in the cfmFlowMonitorTable when it recognizes the addition of a new flow monitor, such as might occur upon the insertion of a line card that supports flow monitoring. Likewise, such a device destroys a row in the cfmFlowMonitorTable when a flow monitor has been removed.