Best VPS for Algorithmic Trading
Why Complement your Trading with a VPS
A virtual private server (VPS) is a virtual machine that is sold as a service by an Internet hosting provider. In simpler terms for non-techies, is like renting a computer that you can connect to from your own computer.
A VPS is a very important part of an algorithmic trader. Since we develop robots that are watching the markets 24/7, we want to deploy our expert advisors in a computer that can be online 24/7. Furthermore, using a VPS offers other advantages, namely:
- They are not affected by power cuts and network outage as our personal computers might be.
- We don’t need to be constantly monitoring that our computer has stopped working for any reason.
- We will have our personal computer free for other tasks.
- Our computer will not suffer from overheat due to being online for days; this is even more relevant if we deploy expert advisors on a laptop.
Believe me, using a VPS is a choice that you will not regret. Now, the choice of a VPS is not as difficult or important as choosing the right broker. There are VPS that can be considered expensive given the service they provide, but choosing an expensive VPS is not as harmful as choosing a broker that will make you lose money, as we explain in our recommended broker page.
During my trading career I have tried a total of 4 different VPS providers. These are not much but changing from one VPS to another can become a bit cumbersome depending on how many EAs and accounts you want to migrate, so it is convenient to choose the right one from start.
That is what I am going to help you with here.
How to choose the best VPS for algorithmic trading
When choosing the right VPS for our trading, we need to look at the following points:
Specifications
All specifications are important, but we must look specially for RAM memory. Very simple, the more, the better. The minimum required will depend on our robots, more on this later.
Uptime
VPS downtime may impact negatively our trading by making our trading robots miss signals. In addition, reviewing and setting up our VPS constantly can be annoying. Don’t take any less than 99.99% uptime.
Price
This really depends on your requirements and budget. However, be careful here, you would be surprised to see VPS providers charging much more than others for same power. On the other hand, avoid VPS that are not prepared for traders and charge you per time consumed.
Location
If you look for low latency in your trading, you must set up a VPS near your broker’s server, which ideally should also be close to their liquidity providers. Therefore, look for a VPS provider with datacenters in financial hubs.
Customer Service
There is no excuse for a VPS provider to not offer support 24/7. If you have any problem with your VPS, you will need immediate response or your trading may be affected!
Windows 2012
A bonus tip I want to share with you is that you stick to Windows 2012. This version of Windows has less features than later versions and therefore it consumes less RAM, which is exactly what we want.
How much RAM does my VPS need for MT5?
This is a question that we all have when looking at a VPS for the first time and the asnwer is, it depends. There are several factors that will influence the amount of RAM memory that your trading requires, namely:
- The number of Metatrader 5 platforms that you open: each account needs a separate instance of MT5
- The number of expert advisors deployed
- The code of the expert advisors, how much memory they use
Since this may vary a lot from trader to trader, I cannot give you a clear answer. However, I will try to give you some guidance.
If your expert advisors are simple in their code, for instance they just read entry and exit signals from the market and send orders following these signals and you only open 1 MT5 and deploy 1 to 10 EAs, then you will do fine with a VPS of 1 GB RAM.
If however you open 2 or 3 MT5 or deploy many EAs or these are more complex in code, then you should probably look at 1.5 to 2 GB RAM. You will see that the RAM consumption increases as you deploy more and more EAs or open new instances of MT5.
Finally, should your expert advisors do a heavy use of arrays or calculations, you will soon find that 2 GB fall short. In that case you will want to look at packages with more RAM and core CPUs.
As you can see, it really depends on code and quantity; if you are not sure, my recommendation is to start small and upgrade later if you need.
Best VPS for Trading Forex or Any Markets
Amongst all VPS I have come with in my trading career, OneVPS is the one I currently trade with. Their VPS specifications are very competitive and their customer service is on point.
Let’s start by their customer service. I personally have had a great experience with them so far. In the past, I have cancelled and ordered new vps several times without any problems or obstacles and, whenever I had problems, their customer service answered fast and effectively. For instance, several times I have payed two times the same bill and the refund was quick.
This contrasts with other vps providers that I tried in the past that offered incredible VPS specifications for a low price but extremely poor customer service; companies that do not allow you to easily cancel any vps, payments, credit card details or even your account, really untrustworthy.
OneVPS customer service is great, but their VPS specifications do not fall short either. They are competitive at all ranges, but the best part is that they are customizable. You can build your VPS choosing more CPUs and RAM, which is exactly what you need for your trading robots.
For exemplary purposes, below you will find current prices and main features for three of their packages that I have customized, though you might prefer a different set-up. Please bear in mind that this is a “static picture” and therefore it might be outdated. For accurate and more complete information of the different packages, please refer to OneVPS website.
Standard
- 1.024 RAM
- 1 Core CPU
- 50 GB disk space
- Windows 2012 R2 64bit
- Multiple Datacenter Locations
Professional
- 2.048 RAM
- 2 Core CPU
- 100 GB disk space
- Windows 2012 R2 64bit
- Multiple Datacenter Locations
Custom
- 4.096 RAM
- 4 Core CPU
- 120 GB disk space
- Windows 2012 R2 64bit
- Multiple Datacenter Locations
This information is displayed for information purposes only and it should not create any legal obligation between any parties. Prices or any information could be outdated or incorrect. For accurate and complete information, please refer to OneVPS (Think Huge Ltd.).
How to Connect to your VPS
Once you order your VPS, OneVPS will send you an email with the instructions to make the connection. The first thing you need to do though, is just wait. The setup of your VPS needs from 10 to 20 minutes, so you need to wait.
Once your VPS is ready, OneVPS will send you a confirmation email with the connection credentials. These include the following:
- VPS IP: 149.44.248.16 (this is the internet address of your VPS)
- Username: Admin
- Password: 1x-3DdkL32?4
All of these values are for exemplary purposes only. They are not real.
So now that you have the credentials, you just need to follow these 3 simple steps:
- Open “Remote Desktop Connection” application (“Windows Start Menu” > “Accessories” > “Remote Desktop Connection”)
- Enter the IP Address and click Connect
- A newbox will pop up asking for your username and your password.
Check below for further details.
1. Open “Remote Desktop Connection” app
Open “Remote Desktop Connection” application (“Windows Start Menu” > “Accessories” > “Remote Desktop Connection”)
2. Enter IP Address and Credentials
Enter the IP Address and Username and click Connect. A newbox will pop up asking for your password.
3. Confirm Connection
Connecting to a VPS that you don’t know is dangerous. However, here we are connecting to our VPS, so we don’t need to worry; just click yes and you will connect to your VPS.
And that’s it, as easy as that. You are now connected to your VPS and you can use it as an additional normal computer.
Should any doubt arise, you can contact OneVPS customer support and they’ll be happy to assist you during the process.
Ready to relocate your trading robots?
A decision you will not regret.
How to setup your VPS for trading with Metatrader 5
The first step is to browse to metaquotes website and download and install a new-clean MT5.
Once you have your MT5 installed, you will need to transfer files from your home computer to the VPS, namely the MQL5 files (expert advisors, indicators, include files, parameter sets…)
How to transfer files to a VPS in a secure way
Transfering files to a VPS is very easy. You just need to toogle on a few checkboxes in the remote desktop connection app, in your computer:
- Go to “Resources tab” > “More” and check your drive
- A pop-up will appear before you connecto to the VPS, make sure you have checked the drive. I also like to share the clipboard to enter MT5 account details in the VPS MT5.
