A method for supporting a change in state within a cluster of host computers that run virtual machines is disclosed. The method involves identifying a change in state within a cluster of host computers that run virtual machines, determining if predefined criteria for available resources within the cluster of host computers can be met by resources available in the cluster of host computers, and determining if predefined criteria for available resources within the cluster of host computers can be maintained after at least one different predefined change in state. In an embodiment, the steps of this method may be implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions that, when executed in a computing device, causes the computing device to carry out the steps.