A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product is presented for
management of a distributed data processing system. The network
management framework is able to monitor multiple sources of network
packets on various subnets within the distributed data processing system;
distributed packet snoopers are deployed from a packet usage manager to
monitor the multiple sources of network packets. The system administrator
can request packet filtering based upon selected active users or active
applications. A bandwidth history database is compiled from bandwidth
usage data associated with multiple entities within the data processing
system, including users, applications, and/or endpoints within the data
processing system. In response to a requested action within the data
processing system, bandwidth usage for the requested action can be
predicted with reference to the bandwidth history database. The actual
and predicted bandwidth usage of requested actions can be displayed to
the system administrator in real time.