Patent ID: 7716311

Claim:
A method comprising: storing information defining one or more resource groups for a switch, wherein: (i) each of the resource groups comprises a plurality of identifiers, (ii) each of the identifiers specifies at least one resource which is associated with the switch, (iii) each of the identifiers is determined in response to a parameterized query based on a description of at least one characteristic of the group, (iv) at least one of the resource groups is defined as a result of a flexible query based on an assigned attribute, (v) the assigned attribute specifies a relationship between the time period over which resource is to be monitored and the time period over which a client is running, and (vi) the client is external to the switch; selecting from the client at least one of the resource groups; and wherein in response to the selection of one of the groups by the client, monitoring of the corresponding resources is established on behalf of the client.