Patent ID: 6871233

Claim:
A method for use in a policy goal-based management system employing service level goals for a computer network having one or more network resources comprising the steps of: enabling a system administrator to specify predefined service level goals for said computer network; specifying a prescribed quality of service goal for a prescribed client and prescribed service; executing policy goal-logic to automatically enforce said specified quality of service goal, wherein said policy goal-logic is comprised in a general purpose computer program; monitoring a delivered quality of service for said specified quality of service goal being executed by said policy goal-logic, said monitoring a delivered quality of service including continuously monitoring states of said computer network resources assigned to said prescribed client and said prescribed service; determining if said delivered quality of service is different than said specified quality of service goal; and if so, said policy goal-logic executing prescribed actions regarding network resources assigned to said client for said prescribed service, wherein said actions are intended to adjust said delivered quality of service toward being equal to said specified quality of service goal, wherein said policy goal-action executes said prescribed actions without the system administrator having to specify said prescribed actions to said policy goal-logic intended to enforce said specified quality of service goal.