Hey Guys! New to the forum and have been reading a lot. I have been working on a few strategies and ready to build a Hands-Off system and wanted everyone's feedback.
When I say Hands-Off I really mean to leave the computer and let it do as much as realistically possible. The best way would to build a system as self repairing as possible.
1. Computer - To not be cheap and try to save a few hundreds that can cost you thousands later is unacceptable. Buy the best hardware you can afford.
A. Performance - best processor, max ram to do your calculations. However, would it be a good idea to buy a high end 3d video card? I figure these video cards meant for high end graphics and games, don't really help much on 2d trading apps, and in addition require a lot of power, and may overheat the case. Better to buy a stable non sexy 2d card?
B. Reliability -
a. Buying the absolutely best computer case possible, w/ multifans and possible liquid cooled. The last thing I would want is to be in a big trade and have the computer overheat because I was too cheap to buy a good case.
b. RAID or Disk Mirroring? - Hard drives DO burn out and crash. Buy reliable brands, AND if you install this, even if 1 hard drive crashes, you system is still running on the backup hard drive. It's not too expensive to buy an extra HD.
2. Power outage - You can't prevent a blackout, but you can prepare as much as possible about how your system can handle it. A Battery UPS is a must. Preferably a bigger one that can still get you of trades for a few hours if need be. Are there some software out there, that can send you a text message to your cell phone if this ever happens? Connect your cable/dsl/fios modem/router to your UPS as well.
3. Internet connection: I have had problems w/ cable provders that loses internet connection for minutes to hours. Totally unacceptable. I always have a backup, either cable and dsl, or fios etc. Those w/ multi input broadband routers are a must. That way if cable goes down, dsl picks right up.
4. Software/Broker : This is probably where I need the most help. I've read that Tradestation will disconnect and auto relogon if your internet goes down for minutes/hours. What if you leave your computer, and don't know internet goes down for an hour, then it comes back up, but TS won't autologon? Totally unacceptable.
Does anyone know what would be the MOST reliable, autotrading software/broker combo that doesn't crash, or can self logon and continue if you temporarily lose internet connection? Ameritrade is also horrible, it seems to have problems at least once a month.
In an ideal world we can all leave the computer alone, and although is may not be 100% realistic, I think if we have a lot of these things in place, I can probably feel comfortable leaving it a few days at a time, especially if these things have the ability to send me a text in case something goes wrong.
Please give me feedback of your experiences. I figure we can all help each other out. What I would really like help on, is the best software, that can automatically recover from an internet disconnect, and strong enough to not crash and put my paramters in.
thank you