Standard Operating Procedure – Installing a VPS

[Nick Radge]

Here are a guide on how to get started with a VPS:

(1)
Sign up for a Server (VPS – Virtual Private Server.) It’s pretty straight forward – you enter your details, give them your credit card number, they send you an email with the login details and then send you an email when the server is set up. They will also give you access to a client portal where you can go to see if your server is online / restart / shutdown etc.

(2)
Download AmiBroker and run the registration utility as per the AmiBroker website. (Optional)

(3)
Download the Norgate PDU and run the PDU. (Optional)

(4)
Download IB TWS (Optional)

(5)
Download IB Gateway (optional)

(6)
Download a tool to unzip compressed files. BatchTrader is delivered via .rar:

http://www.7-zip.org/

(7)
Then download and install Smart API v2.0

(use your own link)

(9)
Download an Excel application. I use Libre Office which is free and handles all tasks.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Next,

Copy whatever afl’s you use into AmiBroker and just carry on as you normally do. When you disconnect the Remote Desktop Connection, it does not shut down the server, the server carries on running. You can then login again whenever it suits you.

Which VPS?
Hostwinds seems to be [strike]reasonably reliable[/strike], and cheap. If you are entering orders and then signing off, probably perfect. I am using Tier 4 but you can start at Tier 2 and see how that works for you

https://www.hostwinds.com/

**NOTE: I have found Hostwinds is NOT reliable and have closed my account. I have now moved across to Speedy Trading Servers.

SpeedyTradingServers set their servers up with traders in mind. The servers are co-located to IB so for what it’s worth, your orders should hit IB before most other folk. The nice thing about STS is that they know what you are concerned about so behave accordingly. All of their server downtime is scheduled for a Saturday, so there is no chance of a random server reset throwing a spanner in the works – they also don’t shut your vps down while they are doing this, they just ‘suspend’ it, whatever that may mean.

They are more expensive and they know what traders are trying to do and how important uptime is etc. which removes one layer of confusion.

They use an older version of the Sever software (2008 vs 2012) as they say it is faster and less bloated.

https://www.speedytradingservers.com

Lastly,
In the VPS, switch the Windows auto-updater to OFF. You do not want your Windows system to reboot during the US trading session.

[Anonymous]

Hi Nick, do you recommend a specific size/speed for the VPS assuming one is running a few MOC systems and rotational systems?

Speedy Trading Servers provides the following options:

1. Medium ($60/mo) – 1 Xeon Core, 1.5 GB of RAM, 50 GB SSD disk, 1 Gb/s link, Windows Server

2. Large ($80/mo) – 2 Xeon Core, 2.25 GB of RAM, 50 GB SSD disk, 1 Gb/s link, Windows Server

3. Extra Large ($100/mo) – 2 Xeon Core, 4.0 GB of RAM, 50 GB SSD disk, 1 Gb/s link, Windows Server

4. Mega ($160/mo) – 4 Xeon Core, 8.0 GB of RAM, 50 GB SSD disk, 1 Gb/s link, Windows Server

Thanks!

[Nick Radge]

The recommended minimum is Large ($80pm) which is what I use without issue.

[TrentRothall]

Are most people here using Speedy servers? What else are you using and is it reliable?

[JulianCohen]

I’ve been running on Speedy for a couple of years or more now. It just works. Without wishing to jinx it, I have never had an issue

[Nick Radge]

Yep. Never had an issue.

[Anonymous]

Trent Rothall wrote:

Are most people here using Speedy servers? What else are you using and is it reliable?

I’ve got mine on a Vultr instance in New Jersey, although I could have it hosted anywhere in the states without much difference. Ping is fine from where I live and traceroute is short. They have a ton of compute resources and I’m on a 3.8Ghz skylake instance so performance is fine.

[TrentRothall]

Thanks guys, spent yesterday trying to figures out AWS. I thought i’d try them, doing my head in

[Howard Lask]

I have been using a Lightsail instance from AWS which they offer as a low cost and easy to setup VPS solution without the overhead of setting up and configuring an EC2 server. I have been using the $20/month option (1vCPU, 2gb RAM, 60gb SSD) which has been running without any issues since January.

You can read more about it here: https://aws.amazon.com/lightsail/faq/

[Nick Radge]

Thanks Howard. How many systems are you running on it?

[Howard Lask]

Just one at the moment Nick. I will be introducing a second strategy next week so will report how it performs. Next option up is 2vCPU, 4gb RAM, 80gb SSD for $40/month…

[Anonymous]

Hey Howard – what are you using on that machine to execute orders?

[Howard Lask]

Hi Seth, I am using the Smart API and TWS.

The only other service I have running on the VPS is dropbox which I use to sync csv files in order to import orders and export trade reports from and to my desktop machine. That way I don’t need to run excel or an open office alternative on the VPS.

[Anonymous]

That is cool, I had no idea that amazon would let you run windows on their VPS. The more you know!

[SladeChisholm]

Hi Everyone,

I created a VPS using AWS Lightsail and so far so good. I have used AWS in the past and found their products to be solid.

I documented the build process which is attached in case you go down a similar road and are interested in what I did.

My background is in software so I’m no expert in server setup but I have a reasonable idea.

If you have any questions I’m happy to try and help.

If you have any tips they will be gratefully received.

Cheers

Slade

Edit: I have since upgraded the RAM from 2gb to 4gb which has provided a huge boost in performance across the board, it has knocked 30-40% of the time it takes to place my daily MOC orders as I can now multitask.

[Author]

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