October 2016
Colocation is the practice of housing privately-owned servers and networking equipment in a third-party data center. Traders seeking fast, robust and reliable access to futures exchange matching engines can host servers in Advantage’s professionally managed data centers.
Terry Duffy, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Advantage Futures, offers insight on server colocation and how Advantage can assist.
Q: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF COLOCATION?
Server colocation brings trading strategies closer to the exchange matching engine and significantly reduces execution times and points of failure. Remote access to colocated servers gives traders freedom to trade with speed and confidence from around the globe. Advantage’s data centers equipped with direct exchange connections provide high-performance connectivity, reliability and redundancy. Server colocation in Advantage Futures’ highly secure data centers offers low latency exchange connection critical for algorithmic and high-frequency traders. Advantage supports over 500 technology devices in more than 4,000 sq. ft. of space in multiple data centers.
Advantage’s data centers outfitted with state-of-the-art networking equipment typically operate at less than 20% capacity during peak market conditions. Our infrastructure and scalable network design support mission-critical functions and capacity beyond peak demand levels.
Advantage provides 24-hour support Sunday 2:00 PM to Friday 4:00 PM CT, in addition to backup uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and optional disaster recovery protection. Advantage Technology staff remotely monitors data center connections with sophisticated network monitoring equipment. The 17 member IT team frequently performs on-site client support.
Traders colocating servers benefit from Advantage economies of scale. Advantage supports hundreds of technology devices allowing us to host incremental client servers at competitive prices. This cost effective solution may also save clients time and resources otherwise spent maintaining servers independently.
Q: WHAT IS ADVANTAGE’S SETUP PROCESS?
Advantage strives to have traders up and trading quickly with simple step-by-step processes for direct exchange access:
Consult on server needs;
Purchase server(s) and ship to our office;
Optimize server, set up VPN access (when necessary) and install server in rack space at data center;
Provide client login to upload trade logic to server;
Perform speed tests to ensure efficiency;
Activate trading operation for client to execute trades.
Q: HOW FAST WILL TRADES EXECUTE THROUGH SERVER COLOCATION?
Advantage’s Technology Team facilitates side-by-side tests in production environment for clients seeking to quantify deltas.
Q: WHO PROVIDES THE SERVER SPACE?
Advantage Futures provides server space for clients. We occupy more than 4,000 sq. ft. in multiple data centers and connect over 500 technology devices.
