1. A method for identifying a disk layer on which to execute an update, the method comprising: receiving an update for one or more software resources; identifying a plurality of available software resources targeted by the update; identifying a plurality of disk layers, in a hierarchy of disk layers, having the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update; determining a lowest disk layer of the plurality of disk layers having at least one of the plurality of available software resources targeted by the update, wherein the determined lowest disk layer is different from a lowest disk layer of the hierarchy of disk layers; and applying the update to one or more software resources of the determined lowest disk layer such that a first plurality of virtual machines are updated and a second plurality of virtual machines are not updated, wherein the first plurality of virtual machines and the second plurality of virtual machines are formed based, at least in part, on different software resources of the determined lowest disk layer.