diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java
index 09d25980e5e..9632e72b606 100644
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/storage/StorageManagerImpl.java
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl implements StorageManager {
             _asyncMgr.updateAsyncJobStatus(job.getId(), BaseCmd.PROGRESS_INSTANCE_CREATED, volumeId);
         }
         
-        final HashSet<StoragePool> poolsToAvoid = new HashSet<StoragePool>();
+
         StoragePoolVO pool = null;
         boolean success = false;
         Set<Long> podsToAvoid = new HashSet<Long>();
@@ -436,6 +436,7 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl implements StorageManager {
         while ((pod = _agentMgr.findPod(null, null, dc, account.getId(), podsToAvoid)) != null) {
             podsToAvoid.add(pod.first().getId());
             // Determine what storage pool to store the volume in
+            HashSet<StoragePool> poolsToAvoid = new HashSet<StoragePool>();
             while ((pool = findStoragePool(dskCh, dc, pod.first(), null, null, null, null, poolsToAvoid)) != null) {
                 poolsToAvoid.add(pool);
                 volumeFolder = pool.getPath();
@@ -582,7 +583,7 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl implements StorageManager {
 		if (createdVolume != null) {
 			volumeId = createdVolume.getId();
 		} else {
-			details = "Creating volue failed due to " + volumeDetails.second();
+			details = "Creating volume failed due to " + volumeDetails.second();
 			s_logger.warn(details);
 			throw new CloudRuntimeException(details);
 		}
@@ -968,7 +969,7 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl implements StorageManager {
         _storagePoolAcquisitionWaitSeconds = NumbersUtil.parseInt(configs.get("pool.acquisition.wait.seconds"), 1800);
         s_logger.info("pool.acquisition.wait.seconds is configured as " + _storagePoolAcquisitionWaitSeconds + " seconds");
 
-        _totalRetries = NumbersUtil.parseInt(configDao.getValue("total.retries"), 4);
+        _totalRetries = NumbersUtil.parseInt(configDao.getValue("total.retries"), 2);
         _pauseInterval = 2*NumbersUtil.parseInt(configDao.getValue("ping.interval"), 60);
         
         _hypervisorType = configDao.getValue("hypervisor.type");
@@ -1510,11 +1511,10 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl implements StorageManager {
         VolumeVO createdVolume = null;
 
         while ((pod = _agentMgr.findPod(null, null, dc, account.getId(), podsToAvoid)) != null) {
+            podsToAvoid.add(pod.first().getId());
             if ((createdVolume = createVolume(volume, null, null, dc, pod.first(), null, null, diskOffering, poolsToAvoid)) != null) {
             	break;
-            } else {
-                podsToAvoid.add(pod.first().getId());
-            }
+            } 
         }
 
         // Create an event
@@ -1677,13 +1677,13 @@ public class StorageManagerImpl implements StorageManager {
         }
         while ((storagePoolHost = chooseHostForStoragePool(storagePool, hostsToAvoid)) != null && tryCount++ < totalRetries) {
             String errMsg = basicErrMsg + " on host: " + hostId + " try: " + tryCount + ", reason: ";
+            hostsToAvoid.add(hostId);
             try {
                 hostId = storagePoolHost.getHostId();
                 HostVO hostVO = _hostDao.findById(hostId);
                 if (shouldBeSnapshotCapable) {
                     if (hostVO == null || hostVO.getHypervisorType() != Hypervisor.Type.XenServer) {
                         // Only XenServer hosts are snapshot capable.
-                        hostsToAvoid.add(hostId);
                         continue;
                     }
                 }
diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
index b24aa1d4436..cb4067d2bf0 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
@@ -2439,10 +2439,10 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager {
                 if (s_logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
                     s_logger.debug("Attempting to create direct attached vm in pod " + pod.first().getName());
                 }
+        		avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
                 if (!forAccount && !forZone) {
                 	vlansForPod = _vlanDao.listVlansForPodByType(pod.first().getId(), VlanType.DirectAttached);
                 	if (vlansForPod.size() < 1) {
-                		avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
                 		if (s_logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
                 			s_logger.debug("No direct attached vlans available in pod " + pod.first().getName() + " (id:" + pod.first().getId() + "), checking other pods");
                 		}
@@ -2459,7 +2459,6 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager {
                 } else if (rtrs.size() == 0) {
                 	router = _networkMgr.createDhcpServerForDirectlyAttachedGuests(userId, accountId, dc, pod.first(), pod.second(), guestVlan);
                 	if (router == null) {
-                		avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
     	                if (s_logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
     	                    s_logger.debug("Unable to create DHCP server in vlan " + guestVlan.getVlanId() + ", pod=" + pod.first().getName() + " (podid:" + pod.first().getId() + "), checking other pods");
     	                }
@@ -2503,7 +2502,6 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager {
                 
                 if (guestIp == null) {
                 	s_logger.debug("No guest IP available in pod id=" + pod.first().getId());
-                	avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
                 	continue;
                 }
                 s_logger.debug("Acquired a guest IP, ip=" + guestIp);
@@ -2541,7 +2539,6 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager {
 	                if (s_logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
 	                    s_logger.debug("Unable to find storage host in pod " + pod.first().getName() + " (id:" + pod.first().getId() + "), checking other pods");
 	                }
-                	avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
 	                continue; // didn't find a storage host in pod, go to the next pod
 	            }
 	            
@@ -2667,7 +2664,7 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager {
                 if (s_logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
                     s_logger.debug("Attempting to create direct attached vm in pod " + pod.first().getName());
                 }
-              
+            	avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
                 String guestMacAddress = macAddresses[0];
                 String externalMacAddress = macAddresses[1];
                 
@@ -2708,7 +2705,6 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager {
 	                if (s_logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
 	                    s_logger.debug("Unable to find storage host in pod " + pod.first().getName() + " (id:" + pod.first().getId() + "), checking other pods");
 	                }
-                	avoids.add(pod.first().getId());
 	                continue; // didn't find a storage host in pod, go to the next pod
 	            }
 	            break; // if we got here, we found a host and can stop searching the pods