A method and apparatus for managing resources within a multimedia system includes processing that begins by receiving a client request for a multimedia system service from one of a plurality of clients. The processing continues by determining whether the client's request is valid for this particular client. The processing continues when the request is valid by determining whether the multimedia system has sufficient resources to fulfill the client request. The processing continues when the multimedia system has sufficient resources to fulfill the client request by allocating at least some of the sufficient resources to fulfill the client request based on a multimedia system resource allocation procedure, which insures that the resources of the system are allocated in an efficient manner.