Patent ID: 8595740

Claim:
A method of managing a processing system, comprising: receiving a utilization indicator indicating a reference utilization level associated with a plurality of resources of the processing system; and managing the resources of the processing system to maintain a load level of each resource to be substantially equal to the reference utilization level, a processing capacity of each resource being allocated among a plurality of application modules that are executed on the resource based on the reference utilization level and priority levels associated with the application modules, each resource prioritizing operations of each of the plurality of application modules that are executed on the resource with respect to others of the plurality of application modules that are executed on the resource based on the priority levels that are associated with the application modules that are executed on the resource, each resource being configured to: transfer all of a processing capacity of the resource from a first application module having a first priority to a second application module having a second priority that is greater than the first priority to take the first application off-line in response to receipt of a request from the second application module for more of the processing capacity of the resources; determine whether a rate at which requests for processing capacity of the resource are received from the second application module is decreasing; and provide an instruction to the first application module that directs the first application module to resume execution in response to determining that the rate at which the requests for processing capacity of the resource are received from the second application module is decreasing.