What is VPS?
So, you are an active professional trader who would want to hold positions in the market and keep then active for a long time. Say for the entire period that your position is active, you have zero tolerance for downtime. If you are using your laptop at home, you cannot achieve this goal. What, then, can you do? You can buy a server and situate it in your office or at home and then run your activities from there. But wait, this is super expensive. So what’s next?
Instead of going for a physical server – which could be problematic, especially if you do not have a sophisticated understanding of how it works – there is an option of acquiring a virtual private server (VPS). But what is a VPS? To define this device, we shall need to understand a few terms first.
First, what is a server? In the simplest sense, a server is a computer that stores a user’s trading account details, including active trades. When you type the account name and password from another computer connected to the server, the computer serves you access to the trading account. Secondly, the VPS’s virtual aspect refers to the ability to access the contents on the server from different devices as long as they have access to the internet. Thirdly, the private aspect means you are the only person who can access the virtual server’s contents.
How a trading VPS works
VPS services became popular for hosting websites after the explosion of the content industry. Soon, traders felt the need to exploit the VPS services as the desire to outperform the market hit the fever pitch. There is one big question, though; how does a trader begin using VPS service? Why would anyone want to use a VPS in trading?
A VPS is like a virtual PC on which your trading engine runs. It could be a MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platform. When you have an active trade position, the VPS communicates directly with the MT4 servers hence eliminating the need for you to keep your computer powered throughout. The VPS is ideal when you are using an expert advisor (EA), which requires you to be online for an extended period to be effective.
Why would you want to use a VPS? Most important, a VPS keeps your trades and EAs running around the clock. Secondly, you can access your MT4 account from any device, even from a mobile phone in a coffee shop, as you warm your stomach with a hot mug! You do not have to lug your computer along every time you want to check your MT4 account.
However, buying access to a dedicated VPS comes at an astronomic cost, meaning only the moneyed institutional traders can afford such. Fortunately, forex VPS service providers have come up to plug the demand for cheaper yet reliable VPS. In this article, we review the top five VPS services for trading.
Top 5 VPS services for trading
- HostingStak
HostingStak is one of the VPS services for trading in the forex market. Like all the other hosts, HostingStak offers a range of packages that traders can buy. Although the cost of accessing the service is on the higher end relative to other providers, HostingStak differentiates itself as a service whose data centers are both in Europe and the US and that it supports the MT4 trading platform. Also, the provider offers just 30GB of traffic, meaning it is ideal for traders who do expect to use the service for only a few individuals. The VPS has full functionalities of a forex VPS, and it takes less than five minutes to set up.
- Forex Cheap VPS
As the name suggests, Forex Cheap VPS is one of the cheapest VPS services for trading. A regular forex VPS plan costs just $4.99 per month, putting the service on the end of affordable services. It comes with RAM of up to 8GB, disk space of up to 50 GB, and a three-core CPU. Besides, it supports MT4, MT5, and cTrader platforms. Forex Cheap VPS has data centers in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and in New York, the United States. However, the VPS is only available for Windows OS.
- LinkUpHost
LinkUpHost prides itself as a company built for a high-frequency forex trader who is not ready to encounter latency. In terms of cost, LinkUpHost lies on the extreme upper because a basic package goes for $44 per month. However, the service performs better than most competitors in terms of avoiding latency. The basic plan gives you a forex-ready VPS with infinite bandwidth, 44GB SSD disk space, and 5GB guaranteed RAM. The service guarantees its clients a 99.95% uptime.
- Trading FXVPS
Trading FXVPS is a powerful VPS service that utilizes Hyper V virtualization technology to deliver a high-speed VPS coupled with high response servers. A standard plan goes for $25 per month, and it includes 2 GB of RAM, 30 GB of SSD storage, and cloud antivirus and malware protection. Even better, the plan has unlimited traffic as it is with the advanced and expert plans. The service supports all trading platforms, including Multi Charts, MT4&5, cTrader, Ninja Trader, etc. Trading FXVPS has a trial plan that costs just $3.99.
- FXVM
FXVM prides itself as the world’s best forex VPS. The VPS service provider promises its clients 100% uptime and the lowest latency because of its powerful servers. FXVM’s packages start from Lite, which costs $19 per month and comes fitted with support for all mainstream trading platforms and expert advisors. From Lite VPS through to Advanced VPS, setup time is just five minutes. However, you might have to wait for up to 72 hours before setup is complete if you wanted a dedicated server. FXVM has servers in Tokyo, London, New York, Amsterdam, Zurich, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Conclusion
Trading VPS is an essential service if you would like to swim with the sharks in the forex. High-frequency traders and major institutional traders rely on VPS to gain an advantage on the market. Because the services are cheap enough for retail traders to afford, there is no reason why you should not try VPS in trading. We have already seen that FXVM, Trading FXVPS, LinkUpHost, Forex Cheap VPS, and HostingStak are possible options you can pick from.
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