1. A resource manager comprising: means for registering resources with a resource manager; means for receiving, from consumers of the resources, requests to reserve sets of the resources to perform associated tasks; means for evaluating whether the requests can be satisfied; in an event that the requests can be satisfied, means for reserving the sets of the resources on behalf of the consumers; and in an event that all of the requests cannot be satisfied, means for determining which of the requests can be satisfied and reserving the sets of the resources on behalf of the consumers that submitted those requests.