Patent ID: 8255532

Claim:
A method comprising: in response to a current event, accessing by one or more computer systems a metric indicating whether the current event has caused utilization of a resource to exceed a predetermined threshold or a later event related to the current event would cause utilization of the resource to exceed the predetermined threshold; decrementing by the one or more computer systems a value of the metric by a first amount, the first amount being a function of: an elapsed time between the current event and a prior event to which the current event is successive, and a value of the metric computed in connection with the prior event; incrementing by the one or more computer systems the value of the metric by a second amount based on an attribute of the current event; and initiating by the one or more computer systems one or more actions to address utilization of the resource if the value of the metric after being decremented and incremented exceeds the predetermined threshold; wherein the first amount is exponentially related to the elapsed time when the metric exceeds the predetermined threshold and wherein the first amount is linearly related to the elapsed time when the metric falls below the predetermined threshold.