Universidade de Aveiro and Instituto de Telecomunicações Instituto de Telecomunicações Universidade de Aveiro and Instituto de Telecomunicações This document specifies Rank, a comprehensive resource management protocol designed for modern edge-to-cloud computing infrastructures. While traditional network protocols focus primarily on managing link bandwidth and router buffer space, the shift toward decentralized services demands a broader approach to resource allocation. Rank addresses this gap by simultaneously managing computing capabilities (such as CPU, memory, and storage), network capacity, and time- sensitive constraints (such as clock synchronization and task scheduling) within a unified framework. Operating primarily as a fully distributed protocol, Rank enables dynamic resource discovery, estimation, allocation, and sharing. It works by establishing a path between a source ("talker") and a destination ("listener") node, actively negotiating resource requirements across all intermediate nodes. Because it is fully distributed, all participating nodes carry equal responsibility in handling a session, such as processing requests, evaluating their own capacity to meet the resource demands, and strategically forwarding messages to ensure an optimized, end-to-end connection without relying on a centralized controller.