An apparatus and method for managing a number of transactions at a network storage device (e.g., a NAS device). The network storage device is identified on the network and a usage policy is generated. The usage policy defines a number of rules comprising conditions and corresponding priorities. A transaction preferably comprises meta data associated therewith. The meta data is read from the transaction and compared to the conditions of the rules defined in the usage policy. The transactions are prioritized at the network storage device based on the rules.