A method of building a computer system is provided. The method comprises determining an average memory storage per virtual machine, determining an average number of virtual machines per host computer, and determining an amount of memory storage per memory pool. The method also comprises determining a maximum number of host computers per memory pool based on the average memory storage per virtual machine, the average number of virtual machines per host computer, and the amount of memory storage per memory pool. The method also includes assembling the appropriate number of host computers and memory storage, organized around memory pools, to handle a specific number of virtual machines.