In Linux, control of key resources such as memory, CPU time, disk I/O bandwidth and network bandwidth is strongly tied to kernel tasks and address spaces. The kernel offers very limited support for enforcing user-specified priorities during the allocation of these resources.

In this paper, we argue that Linux kernel resource management should be based on classes rather than tasks alone and be guided by class shares rather than system utilization alone. Such class-based kernel resource management (CKRM) allows system administrators to provide differentiated service at a user or job level and prevent denial of service attacks. It also enables accurate metering of resource consumption in user and kernel mode. The paper proposes a framework for CKRM and discusses incremental modifications to kernel schedulers to implement the framework.

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