VPS hosting for EA testing

Dear Traders

can you guide me which is the best and economical (cheapest) VPS hosting company for EA testing.

Any help would be appreciated.

regds

Zamir

I use SWVPS they are very cheap. I did have an issue with them 2 weeks ago when they had an outage, but they made it right with me.

best tip is to get a plain vanilla VPS account - don't fall for these guys that say they are MT 4 experts or know forex, they charge too much.

Dear LTBF...

i need someone who will allow me to run multiple instances of Metatrader so i can test three or four EA on different accounts at same time.

or if anybody have better idea, please advise me.

thanks

There are a few considerations when choosing a VPS.
- Latency
- windows version (2003 64 bit vs 32 bit)
- tech support/service
- price

Latency is the most important, especially for scalpers. This is the time it takes from data packets to go from your computer/server to the broker's server and back to the original requesting computer. For a deeper explanation of latency, view this article. The basic rule of thumb is that the closer the VPS or dedicated server is to the broker's servers, the lower the latency.

You obviously need a windows desktop, because mt4 and most other trading platforms use windows as their OS (sorry mac/linux users) But you can access windows desktop on mac using mac RDC. Most already come with server 2003 64 bit (yes you can still run 32-bit programs on 64 bit system). But in my case, I still had to have 32 bit until the licensing for the 64 bit came through. The 64 bit does make a performance boost, even for 32 bit applications.

Support varies GREATLY among service providers. No, not everyone provides phone support and I actually can understand why. 1/3 of the calls will often be from people asking how to turn on a computer. This ties up the phone from people who have real issues with their server and need attention. But those emails need to be replied to FAST. 30 minutes TOPS for normal issues. As I understand it,

In some cases, you may be able to get dedicated server for the same or similar price as the VPS. In this case, the dedicated server is always a better option, as this is your OWN server.

I can recommend CommercialNetworkServices.com CNS. Very upfront guys over there and fees are reasonable. For dedicated work, I can recommend GalaxyVisions.com . They were also very upfront with me and they will even let you visit the datacenter in New York if you want to. You can install stuff by hand. If you ask victor in sales that Josh from 4EverMaAT sent you, he may give you a deal.

I used forexvps.com, but had some service issues with them, although some other people that use them say they have little or no issues with them. Their servers are in Atlanta, GA, which isn't the greatest place as your best latency for the majority of brokers will come from New York City or a server that is right next to their servers.

I've also tried 1and1.com. Their "guaranteed" services is that they guaranteed to take up to 24 hours or longer to reply to tech support issue or take 1 hour to pick up the phone. They also will often send you to india call center first and they want to grill you for 10 minutes and they have no idea what you are talking about when you ask them specific questions about the server operation. (yes you can tell)
Another option is that your broker may offer co-location services or vps or server space for your eas right near their servers. That would probably be reserved for their premium clients, but worth asking. Again, the closer the trading server is to the broker server, the lower the latency.

The guaranteed resources were advertised as being big, but they limit the processor resources big-time. Or something (they wouldn't say). When i inquired about why was I unable to open up more programs despite the fact that I have plenty of ram left, they denied blocking any of my programs (known, working programs) and said that my programs were just crashing. (1 sec after starting up?) This company is what led me to my search for a better VPS, and then I learned that either a) go with a good VPS company or b) get your own server that you control the resources 100%. You control reboots and every aspect of it. It's YOURS. But be prepared to pay for it.

Price is self explanatory. I get my dedicated server for around 100/mo. THAT IS A SUPER DEAL. And that's for a quad-core amd with 2 gb ram. No backoffice extras except one button to reboot and a couple of graphs to measure . Just the system, windows 32bit 2003 standard (about to be 64 bit), a 10 (or 100) Mbps connection, and RDC connection with 99.99% guaranteed uptime. I am responsible for my own backups. (could get an extra hard drive and clone it) But for the price, what you get and having an always up connection and Good luck getting that deal again.

but for vps, plan on paying $30-80/mo for good trader package. And 50-250/mo for dedicated windows server. Per month.

You can try VPSLand, the cheapest Windows Plan is $18/month,
with 512mb free RAM you should be able to runs 4 instance of MT4

the only problem i had with them was their DNS servers was down for a few days, but it can be solved by adding OpenDNS IP as an alternative

You can choose whether you want Windows 2003 Server 32bit or 64bit (i was using the 64bit version)

I continue to be very impressed with CNS as an option for VPS. I can easily run about 40+ mt4 demos. And I have a mt4 autoinstaller that I created to help me setup multiple mt4 installations. I have not yet finalized the programming, but so far, good news.

And galaxyvisions.com for dedicated server.

guys could anyone please recommend an inexpensive vps just to run one ea which trades a breakout once a day on one or two pairs on a small ($1000 usd account)

thx

40+ mt4 demo. that is on CNS Traders Virtual Desktop - Value or Standard edition ?

How much customisation added w.r.t. RAM, hard disk space, etc..

----
Can u suggest settings for 5-8 demo/live mt4 ?

I run on CNS up to 15 mt4 platforms with average two EAs on each with 512 RAM.
U have just to limit the "max bars in history" and the "max bars in chart"
Value edition. Around 195 bucks for half a year. Excellent support and ZERO downtime so far

---------------------------------------------
http://www.myfxbook.com/members/pc8multifx

http://www.ucvhost.com

have been with these clowns for 7 months, total idiots. Run by indians I beleive. Goes down just about every week, they never announce it, restart the server and ur EA is not running. I run live accounts so will leave.

The worst is their attitude: its running now sir! THATS NOT THE POINT, the point is I want it running all the time,
they think because its running now, there is nothing to complain about, not to mention, "this will never happen again sir" sorry sorry.... what F joke. I beleive its the way they think, something in the brain..

STAY AWAY MY FRIENDS!!!

Pay peanuts you get MONKEYS!!

IBFX has been offering a VPS solution for a while now. Not the cheapest around but certainly not the most expensive at $35/month.

with IBFX vps solution, you are limited to IBFX mt4. Unless they changed the rules, they designed the desktop so that you can only use IBFX terminals and upload your EA. Using a private VPS that you control will minimal interference from the tech administrators. I haven't seen anyone able to beat CNS for trading, unless it is a dedicated server. And even then, i still find it difficult to beat CNS in price and value. They usually answer trouble tickets in under 15 minutes. I've been requested to reboot once in about 6 months.

sogt725, at the time of that post, I was using standard edition with 1gb ram. But now I use value edition win 2003 server with 512 mb ram. I think onu's advise is worth looking into to maximize your free space and ram. I also use cacheman XP to monitor/clear out ram. I don't set it on auto-recover RAM, just when I log in sometimes I may manually recover ram. It's not necessary, as trader VPSs are already tweaked for maximum trading performance, but just an extra tool I use.
I think the value edition with 512 mb ram to start is ok. You can increase your memory at anytime.

ybfjax,
40+ mt4 demo. Perhaps there's no need for so many demos for now >1 year later, that u're more skilful and need the downgrade for more focused solutions.

On Standard Win2008R2.
No deployment yet..

2 platforms.
1 mt4 with 22 pairs x 5 TF (timeframes) = 110 charts
Another mt4 with 8 pairs x 5 TF = 40 charts
Total 150 charts.
3-4 custom indicators [per chart] with email alerts.

Possible ?

I suppose so. I use win server 2003 32 bit, but there shouldn't be much difference. The many charts in a single terminal may pose memory issues for that terminal. The only way to know for sure is to load up a demo and see for yourself. Monitor the memory usage and see if execution and alerts are fast enough to your liking. the primary difference between value and standard editions is dual-core vs quad core and starting memory. You should strive to have 100mb ram free after you've maxed out all the programs you want to leave unattended for a couple of days.

When you come back and see you still have plenty of free available memory and your log file is not too big, then you know you can leave it for longer periods unattended

http://omegasupreme.com/

...I use Boston Technology. Great service. Not the cheapest, but I have no issues.... at all. You get what you pay for.

Good trading to you all.

Regards, Kenfenfx

Omega and BT may not be the best choices. I cannot speak for their customer service. But their servers are not near major broker data centers. This will affect latency, which can only be cured by being in physically close to a broker datacenter. CNS rarely has that problem.

Concurr, I used them too in the past, no major problems, does what it says on the tin! I am only risking small accounts in the hands of EA's so decided to have my own server tucked out of the way in my shed, small PC running Server 2003 with a UPS. I found that Ethernet over Mains adaptors work very well for the link. Not quite as resilient as a VPS but only costs me the electric! (PC built from scrap etc).

Good to hear, but kind of defeats the purpose of a VPS. The main selling points, besides price, is redunancy of dedicated hardware, always-on computer always connected to a fast internet, and latency to trading servers, which is directly related to the physical distance between the trading computer and the broker server.

To guarantee these things at home in a residential neighborhood would be a considerable outlay.

Agree 100%, my main point was one of cost, yes if you have found an EA that generates enough to cover the cost of a proper VPS then thats the most sensible option. I expect the large majority are "experimenting" on Demo or risking tiny amounts.