What are the main considerations for a trading machine

1
Presenting Fundamentals of a Trading
WorkstationRightway Contact InformationGeneral
Informationinfo_at_rightway.comComputer
Salessales_at_rightway.comTech Supportsupport_at_righ
tway.comRightway Computer Training Custom
Solutions for Traders1740 East Huntington Dr.
302/303Duarte, CA 91010Tel [phone] Fax
626-357-6795 Toll Free 800-883-8688
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What are the key features to consider when
setting up your Trading Workstation?

• RELIABILITY
• DATA SYSTEM SECURITY
• SPEED SYSTEM RESOURCES
• REDUNDANCY
• CONNECTIVITY

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What are the system requirements of my trading
applications?
First always check with the trading platform
applications system requirements. Usually their
website will have a support link. Next we have
displayed the MINIMIUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS for
Cybertrader Remember these are considered minimum
specifications the application will run but for
top notch performance purchase as much power as
the budget allows. Your trading workstation is
your primary tool as a trader.
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Hardware Requirements for CyberX2 and
CyberTrader Pro
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What type of Internet connection is best for
trading
What are the Connection requirements?
In the next few slides we have outlined the basic
connections options available today. For the
average trader, we suggest that you look into a
higher than 56K bandwidth connection such as ISDN
or DSL. If you have no other choice than 56K
Internet dial-up, please sign up with UUNET, BBN,
or SPRINT, who are all backbone providers for
CyberTrader. Keep in mind that in every case, the
level and quality of provider that you choose is
vitally important to the quality of your
connection. For the more serious trader, a
private, dedicated frame-relay is by far the
best, most reliable and secure connection. In all
cases, we suggest a backup or secondary access
through 56K dialup or better.

• Note For all types of internet connections, we
  cannot stress how important is it to choose a top
  tier, internet backboned provider. It can
  actually be more important than your connection
  type. At times, a DSL or Cable Modem from a good
  provider is better than ISDN from a poor
  provider. Contrary to marketing hype, NOT all
  internet providers are at the top level. You
  might pay a bit more than at mom-n-pop ISP, but
  it is well worth it when you rely on your
  internet connection to trade.

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Internet ISDN

• What is ISDN? (Integrated Services Digital
  Network). ISDN is a special digital line that
  provides a faster, more proven connection. ISDN
  service is available in 64K, we recommend getting
  service for the full 128K. We recommend ISDN as a
  dedicated service that offers a high connection
  stability/reliability and usually a static
  Internet Address.
• Hardware ISDN Router / Terminal Adapter
• Monthly Fees ISP fee for ISDN Dial-up or
  Dedicated Service (depends on the ISP) Local
  telephone company monthly ISDN line fee.
• Advantages ISDN is a long-standing and proven
  technology. Dedicated ISDN offers the most stable
  and reliable Internet based connection.
• Disadvantages Dial-up ISDN service may
  disconnect during trading. Dedicated service is
  still subject to Internet congestion issues that
  can affect performance.

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Cable Modem

• What is a Cable Modem? A Cable Modem connects
  through your local cable company to the Internet.
  Cable Modems offer higher bandwidth options than
  a 56K modem and ISDN. Anywhere from 56K to 1MB of
  bandwidth is available depending on network
  traffic at the Cable Modem provider.
• Hardware Purchased from your cable company
• Fees Around 40-50 a month.
• Advantages Higher bandwidth "cost effective"
  connections than a typical 56K connection or
  ISDN.
• Disadvantages Limited availability, Cable Modems
  are not offered in every city yet. Cable Modems
  bandwidth is not guaranteed. This means that your
  bandwidth can fluctuate depending on network
  traffic. A good Cable Modem provider is in
  general more reliable than 56K, but not as stable
  as ISDN.

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DSL

• What is DSL? DSL (digital subscriber line)
  utilizes your existing phone circuit for upload
  and download speeds of 64K to 1MB. It is offered
  through your local phone company who will also be
  your ISP. DSL can offer high bandwidth as well as
  dedicated connections.
• Hardware Purchased from your local phone
  company. Equipment will vary by providers.
• Fees Around 50 - 200 a month.
• Advantages Very high bandwidth. Option of
  Dial-up or Dedicated connections. Generally more
  reliable than 56K or Cable Modems.
• Disadvantages Limited availability and coverage
  area. DSL is not offered in every city and
  bandwidth depends on your distance from the local
  phone switch.
• In general DSL is more reliable than 56K and
  Cable Modems.

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Internet Service Providers

• The Internet Service Providers that Cybertrader
  recommends are
• UUNET
• SPRINT
• MCI
• Internet
• BBN
• PlanetCheck out local ISP Tier one DSL or Cable
  Modem providers, and ask if they use proxies and
  what about their user ratios your best choicees
  are T1 or Fractional T1 Then DSL Then CableModem
  -- 56K Dial-up Modem BACKUP --
• If you must use an analog 56K connection, please
  select from one of our recommended ISP's and get
  a dedicated line if possible -- Dedicated 56K
  Modem -- 56K Dial-up Modem BACKUP --
• If you must still use an analog 56K connection,
  please select from one of our recommended ISP's
  and/or connect to two (2) different ISP's --
  Dial-up 56K Modem --OR- MultilinkPPP (Dual) 56K
  Modems -- 56K Dial-up Modem BACKUP

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Firewalls, and Proxy Servers
A Firewall protects your system by not allowing
data to get to your computer unless the data was
specifically requested. A router or proxy server
allow the sharing of the internet connection to
other computers on your network. While most
Trading platforms will work on a system with a
hardware or software firewall you must check with
your vendor for specific ports that must be set
to allow the flow of data, for example the ports
below must be opened for ESignal to communicate
Depending on the subscribed services, you may
need to configure up to 6 outgoing ports on the
firewall. Here are the port assignments Port
2189 - Connection Manager and Financial Quotes
Server (required) Port 2190 - News Server
(required for News access) Port 2192 - Intraday
History Server (required for intraday data)
Port 2193 - International Tick Server (required
for International Intraday history data) Port
2194 - Daily History Server (required for
historical data) Port 2196 - Nasdaq Level II
Server (required for Nasdaq Also always check
for any specific compatibility issues with your
Trading Platform Vendor.
.
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Satellite Connections

• Does Cybertrader support satellite connections?
• No. The data is transmitted through a satellite
  connection in short bursts. Our data is
  streaming, and our servers can read that the
  software has disconnected. Another problem is
  latency the time it takes for your data packets
  to travel to space back plus the internet hops
  mean your data may be as much as 5 seconds slower
  than other connections

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CyberTrader Visual Trace Route for CyberTrader
Pro and Cyber X 2
Welcome to the CyberTrader Visual Trace Route
page. This page will assist you in determining
whether any connection problems exist between
CyberTrader servers and your computer.
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A typical Trace Route Table
Note In general, text that is displayed in
purple is non-authoritative (from a local cache
on your hard drive maintained by VisualRoute) and
text displayed in black is authoritative.
Non-authoritative information is validated as
soon as possible, but is displayed immediately to
speed up the display of information to you.
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• HopThe trace route hop count. This is
  the number of points our data must route through
  to get to your computer. A hop is one of those
  pointsErrThis shows the percentage of ping
  packets that have been lost at this hop level. A
  packet is a piece of data that is sent to your
  computer (a quote, chart data, etc). A ping is
  the action taken when the packet is sent to you
  as a test (you may have heard of submarines
  'pinging' underwater objects using radar waves).
  The number 1 indicates 10 packet loss, the
  number 5 indicates 50 packet loss, etc This
  number is red if a host is detected at this hop
  level. This means that ping packets are being
  lost. Otherwise, this number is black, because
  the host may just be ignoring all of our ping
  packets. This number is updated as the trace is
  completed, however if you should stop a trace
  before completion, this value may not be totally
  accurate as VisualRoute may still have been
  waiting for responses from some of the ping
  packets that it had sent. IP AddressThe IP
  address of the host at this hop level. This is
  the actual address of a connection (a host) in
  numerical form. It is red if a recent ping packet
  was lost. It is blue when it matches a Loose
  Source Route IP address. Otherwise, it is black.
  The IP Address is bolded if it is the host that
  you are trace routing to.Node NameThe DNS
  lookup of the IP Address. This is the host
  address shown as a name in text format.

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LocationThe location of the node. A node is a
connection point. It is black if we are fairly
certain of the node's location. Otherwise it is
purple, meaning that the location is a best guess
based upon information from various WHOIS
databases. msThe average number of
milliseconds that it took for a ping packet to go
from your machine to this hop level and back to
your machine (just like the system 'tracer'
program). The number 500 would be equal to a 1/2
second delay. 1000 would be a full second
delayGraphThe blue line is a graph of the 'ms'
column. The gray horizontal bar in each hop line
represents the minimum and maximum millisecond
times for that hop levelNetworkThe network
that this node is in, as reported by various
WHOIS databases. This is the network name
associated with the node.
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Ping
How can I ping an IP address on my computer?
Enter the command prompt, and after the "C\"
type "ping (IP address) -t". This will give you a
continuous ping of the IP address, in which you
can see the response in milliseconds denoted by
time. Anything past 350 milliseconds can lead to
disconnects from the software. If you see
anything displayed that says "request timed out"
or "destination unreachable," it means that
either the other party is using a firewall, or
the connection is so poor that no response is
received.
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The floppy drive and it's disks, today, are more
like a small toolbox in that it can hold a few
large items or several small items and it can be
carried with you. It is normally used for
"cargo", but it was once used for "seating" as
well. Other types of drives, such as the CD
(Compact Disk) and the Zip with their disks, are
like the floppy in that you can take it with you
and usually use it in other computers. However
they are larger toolboxes and can be used for
either "seating", so programs run from them, or
for "cargo", so you can store your files. Now the
CD is special in that once something is on it,
such as when you buy a program or use a CD-R
(Compact Disk - wRiteable) drive to make your
own, you cannot change it or remove it. What you
put on the hardrive, floppy, or Zip can be
changed or removed unless you lock it like you
would lock a toolbox.
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Customizing Your computer
Most folks buy a car as a package, but there are
hot rodders and customizers in the computer world
as well. If you want a real custom computer, you
must go to dealer that will build one for you.
All though "bolting" it together your self is not
that hard the "wiring" is not recommended for the
novice. Large computer companies, like Gateway or
Compaq, that offer custom computers are more like
car companies offering option packages, it's
still their stuff or stuff they approve of going
in it.
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Where a short skinny person would find a compact
car comfortable, a large heavyset person would
not. And so several programs, like a large
family, need big hardrives. Luckily as programs
continue to "gain weight" so are hardrive
capacities increasing. How much hardrive capacity
you will need depends on what kinds of programs
and how many you plan to run. Today, anything
under the 4 gig (gigabyte) size is considered
compact, 6 to 15 gig is mid-size, 20 to 50 gig is
luxury to van-size, and 60 gig is a cargo
hauler. In order to guide a vehicle and see
where you are going, so you need a keyboard,
mouse or trackball, and monitor for your
computer. You can control a computer with just a
keyboard, but the way most programs are today a
mouse/trackball is like power steering. Get one
of these that is comfortable for you and your
hand will thank you for it. Voice command is like
having one of those guidance systems in your car.
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As anyone who has worked with a computer will
know, a hard drive is one of the most important
parts of your computer. Although it is a complex
piece of hardware and installing one can
sometimes be a chore, a little knowledge and
practice can make it very easy. The process of
replacing or installing hard drives can make you
very nervous, but it doesn't have to.
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The platters are the disks inside the drive.
Platters can vary in size. Often the size of the
drive, 5.25" or 3.5", is based on the physical
size of the platters. Most drives several
platters. They are usually made of an aluminum
alloy so that they are light. The newest and
largest drives make use of a new technology of
glass/ceramic platters. Basically, this is glass
with enough ceramic within to resist cracking.
This glass technology is taking over aluminum in
the hard drive industry. Many popular
manufacturers already use it
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The read/write heads do just that, they read and
write to the platters. There is usually one head
per platter side, and each head is attached to a
single actuator shaft so that all the heads move
in unison. Each head is spring loaded to force it
into the platter it reads. When off, each head
rests on the platter surface. When the drive is
running, the spinning of the platters causes air
pressure that lifts the heads ever-so-slightly
off the platter surface. The distance between the
head and platter is very small...so small that
the HDA must be assembled in a clean room because
one dust particle can throw the whole thing off.
This sensitivity and accuracy is what causes only
bigger companies to be able to repair hard drives
simply because of the expense of a clean room. A
slider is attached to each head. This mechanism
actually glides over the platter and holds the
head at the correct distance to do its job. You
can see a full head assembly to the right. You
can see the sliders on the end of each head.
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The stepper motor design is actually an electric
motor that moves from one stop position to
another, governed by click stop positions. The
servo motor actuator is another type of head
actuator motor. Unlike the stepper design, the
heads get feedback as to position, assuring
proper tracks are read. The voice coil is the
latest type of device for controlling the heads
and is used on all modern hard disks. The voice
coil operates similarly to a speaker.
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Your PC memory is a highly important aspect of
overal system performance. It serves as the
temporary storage area for program code while it
is in use by your operating system or while it is
being worked on by the processor. With processors
becoming faster and faster, and programs becoming
more bloated and complex, larger amounts of
memory are required. These days, your operating
system alone can take up a huge chunk of your
overall system memory. But, on top of quantity,
quality and speed are factors that have to be
addressed. After all, your PC memory sits
directly on your system bus and interfaces with
your CPU. If it cannot keep up, performance will
drag and you may experience problems.
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There is a perpetual war on, and it is between
Intel and AMD. The winner gets the large share of
the PC market. The loser?  Well, there is none!
This fierce competition is driving the CPU
rapidly to more powerful levels. Indeed, one can
get lost in the shuffle. One can't just go to the
internet review sites and learn all about
processors without knowing the basics. That's
where this section comes in. Ever wondered what
the processor is like on the inside? Ever
wondered how some of the internal structures of
the processor translate into some of the arcane
specs you hear about in tech circles?
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A processor is a complete calculation engine that
is completely self-contained, with all necessary
units compiled onto a single chip. If you ever
look at the internal wiring diagrams of a modern
processor, you will see that a processor is
actually a compilation of many smaller units, all
inside of the same casing. Each component has its
own special purpose that contributes to the
overall functionality of the whole. For example,
the Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) of a processor
performs all addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division operations, while a
floating point unit handles all very large
calculations on floating point numbers. And you
have lines in between each component to
facilitate communication between the devices.
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Motherboards The motherboard is the most
important part of your computer.  It is also one
of the most compared, critiqued, and reviewed
pieces of hardware. Often, on the internet,
 you'll find reviews and debates over which board
is best or which chipset is best.  Sometimes the
average reader gets left in the dust. We will try
to explain what's going on and what it all means.
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USB is a plug-and-play external bus. It does this
by requiring USB support in the underlying
operating system (something all OSes in use by
modern systems have). The host software then
takes care of managing the attachment and
de-attachment of peripherals while hiding all of
the details of this from the system software. The
phase at which a device is attached and
identified is called enumeration (more below).
Here, the system will communicate with the device
and seek an identification. It will then
determine which driver to use for the system or
if one needed to be installed. A unique address
identifier is assigned to each device for
run-time ID and for data transfer. Each
interaction with the peripheral is a transaction
on the USB bus, the system originating and the
peripheral responding appropriately.
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A monitor is like the windows, and a small and/or
low quality monitor can be like having large
blind spots - very aggravating and potentially
dangerous. When looking for one, have the
salesperson show you text as well as pictures.
Many monitors look great when they are displaying
those high quality pictures, but most computing
still deals with text. The text should not appear
fuzzy and a solid color should not change shades
anywhere on the monitor.
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Multi-Display Video Cards
The NVIDIA Quadro NVS series features four
distinct board level products the NVIDIA Quadro
NVS 200 (AGP PCI), the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 280
(AGP) and the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 400 (PCI). All
products feature NVIDIA's nView multi-display
technology, delivering professional 2D and 3D
performance
NVIDIA's nView multi-display software--bundled
free with NVIDIA ForceWare desktop,
workstation, mobile, platform, and multimedia
software solutions--provides a revolutionary way
to multi-task and process information easier.
Instead of stacking window upon window within the
confines of a single display, imagine spreading
your work across multiple displays. Financial
analysts can have a monitor for tracking each
data stream. Graphic artists can use an entire
display for palettes, and another for editing.
The possibilities are endless.
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nView supports stretched and extended desktops in
Windows XP, and like Matrox, can handle
independent resolutions, color depths, or refresh
rates per monitor in Windows 2000, just make sure
you have the latest service packs and drivers.
That this capability is now available through
nView makes cards based on NVIDIA's GeForce4
MX440 particularly suitable for multimonitor
business environments where DirectX 8-support
isn't really necessary.
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Nvidias NView Software
Uniquely, nView exposes a number of preferences
for individual applications. This is great way to
make some of the more novelty effects, like
window transparency and spanning across multiple
monitors, more useful than they would be when
applied globally. nView also supports Microsoft's
multimonitor extensions for Internet Explorer and
Office, making it a well-equipped workhorse for
cubicle duty. Of course, nView also remembers
where and how big all your application windows
were the last time you opened them. If having
the additional desktop space of a second monitor
isn't enough, nView also supports up to 32
different desktops for the real estate-starved,
though I can't think of anyone that would need
nearly that many, even in a business or
workstation environment. nView binds its multiple
desktop preferences to individual Windows user
accounts, which is a nice touch. You can also
configure a number of different overall nView
display profiles to suit various needs.
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Helpful and Informative Web Sites

• Connectivity Issues
• http//www.dslreports.com/
• http//www.realtick.com/v2_getpage.asp?subnavtrue
  pagesupp_help_supp
• http//www.cybertrader.com/faq/faq_display.asp?que
  stion3784category1115
• http//test2.cybertrader.com/
• General Multi-display information
• www.rightway.com
• http//www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/guide/
• http//www.monitoroutlet.com/quiccomlcddi.html
• http//www.matrox.com/mga/multidisplay/home.cfm

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Presented by Jack Hall President of
Rightway.com Please visit our booth at space 436
for more information. Please visit our web site
at www.rightway.comfor a free copy of our
workstation handbookRightway Contact
InformationGeneral Informationinfo_at_rightway.com
Custom Solutions for Traders1740 East Huntington
Dr. 302/303Duarte, CA 91010Tel [phone]
Fax [phone] Toll Free 800-883-8688