Is redundancy missing from your trading plan?

Most retail investors trading plans don’t have contingencies in place for failures. With the low cost of hardware and wireless connectivity there is no reason retail traders cannot build a redundant trading system. One failure in the middle of a trading session can be very costly.

Possible Failures

Note: We will ignore server or broker side failures.

Power failure

Loss of power supply would render computer, router and some telecommunication system unusable.

Hardware Failure

• Multiple components could fail leaving computer unusable.
• Router or modem could fail.

Telecommunication Failure

• Phone line fail
• Internet Service provider fail

This is offcourse a very simplified list of possible failures, however it encompasses the most probable failures you will encounter.

The Solution

Laptop + Wireless Internet Plan

The solution is very simple you need to ensure you have a backup computer that has an independent power supply and a wireless Internet connection with a second Internet service provider and communication line.

Well that is pretty obvious I here you saying. The reason I am writing this post is it is relatively cheap and easy to include this redundancy in your general trading strategy, however few do.

How much does this cost ?

For approximately AU$1000 you can purchase a laptop and wireless USB Internet plan. This is in Australia I am sure options would be available to my overseas readers. 

The Laptop

A cheap Dell Inspiron 15 should be sufficient for our needs features include:

• 2.16 Ghz Celeron processor (not fast but sufficient)
• 2 gig RAM
• 160 GB hard drive
• Windows Vista Home Basic

In Australia 3 offers very affordable prepaid wireless broadband I am sure similar offers are available overseas. 

Keeping  your Backup Computer in Sync

The easiest way to keep both computers synchronised is with the use of SyncToy.  This tool allows you to mirror your working environment on two computers. This can be achieved either over a network or by using an external hard drive.

Download and install SyncToy on both computers.

Setup the folders you wish to synchronise, making sure on the second computer you reverse the right and left folders.

Choose the settings for the  folder pair.

After running SyncToy on both computers you should see a screen similar to the one above.

You may have to play with SyncToy and the folders you choose to synchronise for optimal results.

About the author

Mark - Is a 28 year old form Australia. He has a Bachelor in Economics and a Major in CS. He is currently working towards his CFP. His interests include algorithmic trading systems, artificial intelligence, game theory and poker.