An apparatus and a computer program product includes non-transitory computer readable storage media embodying program instructions. The program instructions are executable by a baseboard management controller (BMC) to receive a request to install a hardware component in a compute node, identify a current hardware configuration of the compute node, and identify a plurality of available locations within the compute node for installation of the requested component. Still further, the BMC may identify, for each available location, a historical performance database record that includes a performance score for a component installed in the same location as the available location, has the same component type as the requested component, and was collected from a compute node having the same hardware configuration as the current compute node. The BMC may select an available location that has the greatest performance score for the component, and generate output indicating the selected location for installation.