Patent Number: 
Section: abstract

A technique and user interface for the assignment of computer system resources and, particularly, for the assignment of storage system resources. The invention allows a user to make design selections through a user interface and, then, automatically provides an indication to the user as the effect of the selections. For example, various performance parameters for each of several applications may be displayed graphically as a chart. In response to the user adjusting a parameter for one application, the invention determines what effect this change will have on the other displayed parameters. A design for the computer system is developed. Levels of performance parameters for the design are predicted. The predicted levels of performance parameters are compared to the desired levels of performance parameters. When the predicted levels are lower than the desired levels, the design is modified. The design may be modified by reducing the desired levels of performance parameters based on utility functions. The results may then be displayed graphically on the chart. The invention is particularly useful for allocating data storage system resources among several different applications.