A resource allocation method, wherein the method is applied to an S plane device in Application Driven Networking, ADN, the ADN comprises the S plane device, a C plane device, and a D plane device, the D plane device is configured to transmit and forward data in the ADN, each C plane device is configured to control and manage at least one D plane device, the at least one D plane device controlled and managed by the C plane device forms one subdomain, the S plane device is configured to monitor and configure a resource of an application in each subdomain in the ADN, and the method comprises: determining resource configuration information of a first application based on a first request sent by a client to the S plane device and global resource information of the ADN, wherein the first request comprises information used to determine a resource requirement of the first application, the resource configuration information of the first application comprises resource configuration of the first application in at least one subdomain in the ADN, and the global resource information comprises resource utilization information of the first application in each subdomain and available resource information in each subdomain; and sending the resource configuration information of the first application to the client, wherein the resource configuration information of the first application is used by the client to request a C plane controller of the at least one subdomain to configure a resource of the first application in a subdomain to which the C plane controller belongs, characterized in that the sending the resource configuration information of the first application to the client comprises: sending, to the client, a vertical packet, VP, corresponding to each subdomain of the at least one subdomain, wherein each VP carries resource configuration of the first application in a subdomain corresponding to the VP, wherein the VP comprises: an ADN identifier, used to represent an identifier of the first application in the ADN; a subdomain identifier, used to represent an identifier of a subdomain for which the VP needs to be configured; a serial number, used to distinguish between a plurality of times of different resource requirements of a same application; and resource category information, used to represent at least one resource category of the first application in the VP and a resource value corresponding to the at least one resource category. determining resource configuration information of a first application based on a first request sent by a client to the S plane device and global resource information of the ADN, wherein the first request comprises information used to determine a resource requirement of the first application, the resource configuration information of the first application comprises resource configuration of the first application in at least one subdomain in the ADN, and the global resource information comprises resource utilization information of the first application in each subdomain and available resource information in each subdomain; and sending the resource configuration information of the first application to the client, wherein the resource configuration information of the first application is used by the client to request a C plane controller of the at least one subdomain to configure a resource of the first application in a subdomain to which the C plane controller belongs, characterized in that the sending the resource configuration information of the first application to the client comprises: sending, to the client, a vertical packet, VP, corresponding to each subdomain of the at least one subdomain, wherein each VP carries resource configuration of the first application in a subdomain corresponding to the VP, wherein the VP comprises: an ADN identifier, used to represent an identifier of the first application in the ADN; a subdomain identifier, used to represent an identifier of a subdomain for which the VP needs to be configured; a serial number, used to distinguish between a plurality of times of different resource requirements of a same application; and resource category information, used to represent at least one resource category of the first application in the VP and a resource value corresponding to the at least one resource category. sending, to the client, a vertical packet, VP, corresponding to each subdomain of the at least one subdomain, wherein each VP carries resource configuration of the first application in a subdomain corresponding to the VP, wherein the VP comprises: an ADN identifier, used to represent an identifier of the first application in the ADN; a subdomain identifier, used to represent an identifier of a subdomain for which the VP needs to be configured; a serial number, used to distinguish between a plurality of times of different resource requirements of a same application; and resource category information, used to represent at least one resource category of the first application in the VP and a resource value corresponding to the at least one resource category. an ADN identifier, used to represent an identifier of the first application in the ADN; a subdomain identifier, used to represent an identifier of a subdomain for which the VP needs to be configured; a serial number, used to distinguish between a plurality of times of different resource requirements of a same application; and resource category information, used to represent at least one resource category of the first application in the VP and a resource value corresponding to the at least one resource category.