VPS users question

I understand many of the ff members may not need a VPS for their trading

For those of you that do or have has it been that advantageous?

Yes -- I consider it advantageous, though not (necessarily) a requirement.

What you are paying for is up-time and a reliable connection to the Internet. As for CPU -- you can do better with an inexpensive home machine. If you are content with your home machine's up-time and network connectivity, then you do not need a VPS.

Another reason why I like VPS is because I can access that machine from anywhere -- i.e. when I'm at home and also traveling.

Expect to pay around $40 USD / mo for a descent VPS configuration. Yes, I know, there are those who will say there are cheaper solutions -- I've been there and done that. Look it -- when it comes to Forex your trading machine is your life's blood. If someone is serious about Forex, are they really going to quibble about $40 / mo for something as important as their trading machine?

If $40 / mo is going to break the bank, then I'd suggest to forgo VPS for now and wait until that type of expense isn't such a burden.

thanks for the reply robots

the cost wouldnt be a burden

my curiosity lies in the execution advantages

all the trading vps providers tote quicker executions times shaving verbatim hundreds of milliseconds

so this brings up an obvious caveat

this is all relative since you still rely to the isp connection from where ever you are in the world to the connection of the VPS server

perhaps my knowledge on the technology is still lacking

There are at least two types of executions or performances to be concerned with -- (a) MetaTrader, and (b) network performance. When it comes to MetaTrader, you can probably do better with an average home machine. It's the network performance where VPS usually shines.

Keep in mind your VPS lives in some data center (probably one of Amazon's) and is constantly monitored by their infrastructure. The goal of the company that runs the data center is to ensure reliable and good network performance -- otherwise they lose customers. The goal of your local ISP is probably a bit different -- they want to make sure you don't gobble-up too much of their bandwidth. Also, your ISP knows they have a captive audience and your alternative options are limited. When it comes to VPS -- you literally have 100's of choices.

When you use a VPS then the quality of your local ISP connection is not so important. Your MetaTrader instance(s) are running on the remote VPS machine located in some data center and MetaTrader uses the data center's network to communicate with your broker.

Hi Fml,
Few years ago I ve asked myself the same question. `For those of you that do or have has it been that advantageous?` And the answer is No. Why ? Because VPS company virtualize toooo much their machines, so if you need some efficient calculations, probability maths and some complex algos in your trading the VPS will freeze as others also need the CPU usage ( the same CPU shared by others). Eventually you will be ousted by the VPS manager. Some company will suggest you to upgrade to a dedicated server. Since I have one I have no more trouble with IT trading. Moreover you can select the most appropriate server location data center according to your needs ( Close to the CBOT , NJ, close to London or wherever...)
Good luck and happy pips
Tomcat98

There are literally 100's (if not 1000's) of company's that offer VPS solutions. @Tomcat98 -- of those, how many did you really use? From your description it sounds more like you were using a shared host -- which is different than VPS. VPS solutions are used for a variety of applications -- not just Forex. VPS servers run most web sites. Furthermore -- performance is guaranteed and you can even monitor it from a dashboard. If you had a bad experience perhaps it was because you went the cheaper route.

As I mentioned -- the main advantage of VPS is network reliability and performance -- not raw CPU power. The OP was concerned about execution time to / from a broker. Your local ISP will never be able to match the network reliability and performance of a data center.

Like most things in life, there are trade-offs between choosing between local, shared, VPS, dedicated platforms from which to run MetaTrader. Each has strong and weak points. Rather than trash a truly viable solution because of one bad experience -- how about pointing out some advantages and disadvantages. For example -- the cost of a dedicated server is 4-5x times more than a VPS. For me, that's a month's worth of beer and pizza...

In my opinion -- for someone who trades manually or a few EAs, a dedicated server is way overkill. It must have been a pretty persuasive sales person who talked you into that.

Hi,
You are probably right, not arguing.
A simple experience as feedback to Fml and now happy of my today tech profile.
Happy trading
Tomcat

@Tomcat98 -- thanks for your gracious response. I understand that VPS is not the perfect solution for everyone and, of course, there are good and bad providers. But it can be a viable solution.

I'm glad to learn that a dedicated server is working well for you. That's a little too rich for me -- so, I instead run Demo accounts on a local machine and Real accounts on a VPS. As you pointed out -- CPU performance on a VPS machine can sometimes be limiting when you run multiple instances of MetaTrader.