Abstract: The disclosed embodiments provide a system for allocating resources to an application. During operation, the system obtains a set of resource requirements for the application, wherein the resource requirements include a processor allocation and a memory allocation. Next, the system identifies a set of hosts in a set of racks with available resources that meet the resource requirements. The system then selects, for the application, a rack in the set of racks based on a priority associated with resource allocation for the application and a host in the rack based on one or more additional priorities associated with resource allocation for the application. Finally, the system allocates the resources on the host to the application.