There are several reasons why reference counting might be important.

Clean-up: An APPLICATION might like to know that a remote object no longer has ACTIVE references. The typical reason is that object that are no longer in use can be removed from memory. This allows resources associated with a remote object to be reclaimed. This is ESPECIALLY important if a distinct remote object exists for each client application.

Reporting: In many cases it might be helpful to know the usage patterns for a particular remote object. Without reference counting, an object could only report the total number of method invocations performed. Information regarding the number of connected clients or average usage per client would only be available if a reference counting architecture was in place.

Load Balancing: In some cases, a client might gain ACCESS to a remote object via an out-of-process factory. The goal of the factory might be to support clients via a pool of remote objects hosted on different machines. The factory can choose which remote object to return based on actual usage. Reference counting might be ONE mechanism for determining a remote object's "load".

There are several reasons why reference counting might be important.

Clean-up: An application might like to know that a remote object no longer has active references. The typical reason is that object that are no longer in use can be removed from memory. This allows resources associated with a remote object to be reclaimed. This is especially important if a distinct remote object exists for each client application.

Reporting: In many cases it might be helpful to know the usage patterns for a particular remote object. Without reference counting, an object could only report the total number of method invocations performed. Information regarding the number of connected clients or average usage per client would only be available if a reference counting architecture was in place.

Load Balancing: In some cases, a client might gain access to a remote object via an out-of-process factory. The goal of the factory might be to support clients via a pool of remote objects hosted on different machines. The factory can choose which remote object to return based on actual usage. Reference counting might be one mechanism for determining a remote object's "load".