An application container before it is started goes through a phase called Application Localisation. Node Manager takes care of this activity only once for an application irrespective of number of application's containers it has been entrusted to execute. This step mostly includes -- Downloading the application jars, files and archives from HDFS -- Log Aggregation setup for application If you notice your container not starting ( check container logs) as soon as the Application Master has sent a request to Node Manager ( check node manager logs ), it indicates delays with localisation. Use the jars more judiciously for your application to manage the localisation overhead.