An example method is provided for recommending VM configurations, including one or more servers upon which one or more VMs can run. A user wishing to run these VMs can request a recommendation for an appropriate server or set of servers. The user can indicate a category corresponding to the type of workload that pertains to the VMs. The system can receive the request and identify a pool of servers available to the user. Using industry specifications and benchmarks, the system can classify the available servers into multiple categories. Within those categories, similar servers can be clustered and then ranked based on their levels of optimization. The sorted results can be displayed to the user, who can select a particular server (or group of servers) and customize the deployment as needed. This process allows a user to identify and select an optimized setup quickly and accurately.