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As the backbone of any forex trading business, choosing the right hosting provider is a decision that can essentially make or break the entire operation’s success. In order to maintain competitiveness, FX Brokers should thoroughly research hosting providers to guarantee optimal performance, reliability and support.
In this article, we will take a look at the key factors that FX Brokers need to consider when choosing their hosting provider.
6 Key Considerations
Latency
In order for trades to be executed swiftly and with minimal slippage, low latency is crucial. With that being said, it’s important to choose a hosting provider with data centers strategically located within close proximity to major financial markets, like London for example, to minimize latency.
Data centres positioned in key financial hubs ensure that trade orders are transmitted quickly, ultimately accelerating the responsiveness of the trading platform. By reducing the physical distance between servers and financial centers, Forex brokers can significantly mitigate delays, and gain a competitive edge in the market.
In a previous article, we explained why London is an optimal server hosting location for Forex brokers. London is home to some of the world’s biggest financial institutions like the London Stock Exchange as well as many of the world’s largest banking groups. It is, therefore, of high benefit for a forex broker to have the servers established in close proximity to liquidity and technology providers.
Use our Looking Glass tool to check the latency from our global data centers to any host/IP of your choice.
Latest Generation Hardware
Deploying trading software on new generation hardware is imperative. Well-established trading software provider, MetaQuotes, recommends that a server used for MetaTrader 5 (MT5) hosting should be running on new-gen CPU in order to guarantee stability and best performance.
Whilst it is common for hosting providers to offer old hardware at low cost, FX Brokers should make sure that the servers they receive are 100% in line with the hardware requirements of the software vendor.
What to be aware of when choosing the CPU of your server:
Whereas the requirement of a software vendor might be in terms of number of Cores (e.g. 4 Cores) and Speed (e.g. 3.5 GHz) , you also need to ask your hosting provider about the exact CPU model/family.
For example, the following CPU’s are both Quad core with high frequency, but only one is appropriate in a server hosting a trading platform:
- High frequency, 4 Cores: Intel Xeon E5-2637 v4 3.50 GHz // Launched Q1’2016
- High frequency, 4 Cores: Intel Xeon E-2244G Quad Core 3.80 GHz // Launched Q2’2019
Undoubtedly, the E-2244G is the preferred CPU choice for a trading server.
Reliability
When researching potential hosting providers, it’s important to check their uptime guarantee and whether it is backed by a service level agreement (SLA). Since excessive downtime can result in a decline in profitability as well as a loss of credibility for FX Brokers, a reliable provider with consistent uptime is imperative.
In addition to a good uptime, hosting providers offering a monitoring & alerting solution is of vital importance so you can be alerted at any given day/time if the server, or a particular service, is down.
Tip: always ask your hosting provider about an uptime record and a status page where you can view the history of past incidents.
Check out our Premium SLA brochure and what benefits has to offer to your FX Brokerage.
FX experienced Support
Another consideration that should not be overlooked is the level of support your chosen hosting provider offers. The trading industry is extremely fast-paced so it’s important that your hosting provider guarantees quick response times through multiple methods of communication.
Some hosting providers may offer support services tailored to the trading industry and this is most definitely a huge bonus. At the very least, be sure that your chosen hosting provider has 24/7 support available, since the Forex market operates continuously.
The best recommendation is to look for a hosting provider that focuses in FX industry as such a company will be able to support and provide resolution for incidents related to certain popular trading software, liquidity bridge, pricing data, etc.
Security
The nature of Forex trading requires robust security precautions, and this should be amongst your top priorities when choosing your hosting provider. Make sure to check that regular security updates are carried out and that high level security is provided at your chosen data centre.
Hosting providers that offer DDoS protection and other security features should be considered advantageous. Due to the nature of the industry, it’s also important to ensure that your chosen provider complies with regulations and standards.
Pricing
Finally, if your criteria is met with all of the above, it’s important to consider a hosting provider’s costs, pricing structure and terms of service. It’s important to consider value for money and not just opt for the cheapest option, whilst also making sure the cost of your server aligns with your budget.
As mentioned above, always pay attention to the exact hardware requirements of the server you are about to purchase. Cheap hosting providers are likely to offer old hardware, meaning decreased performance and a high chance of breaking in a short period of time!
Host your Trading Server with NetShop ISP
NetShop ISP provides specialized hosting solutions tailored specifically for the needs and demands of the Forex industry. With data centres strategically located in the heart of financial markets, NetShop ISP guarantees enhanced performance, reliability and competitive pricing for traders and Forex brokers.
Check out all our Forex solutions or speak to one of our fintech sales specialists for a free consultation.
Email: sales@netshop-isp.com.cy
Skype: netshopisp
Telegram: @netshopisp
Whatsapp: +357 9911 3300
