A provisioning machine may receive a request that an application be executed while distributed according to a distribution constraint among various devices. The provisioning machine may access a topological model that represents multiple devices configured as a single cloud-based application server and defines a first group of devices that have the same redundancy status (e.g., active or backup). In addition, the topological model may define a second group of devices that have the same functional role (e.g., executing a particular component of the application). A device may be a member of both the first group and the second group. The provisioning machine may determine a size of the first group according to the distribution constraint. Based on the determined size of the first group, the provisioning machine may configure (e.g., provision) the first group of devices as a subset of the multiple devices of the server.