FLUENT TRADE TECHNOLOGIES+

LENOVO SERVERS

CASE STUDY

OverviewThe foreign exchange market needed to boost performance forhigh-frequency trading, improve operational efficiency and enable companies to rapidly respond to changing market conditions. Pairing System x3750 M4 servers with Intel® Xeon® E5 family of processors and Fluent Trade Technologies software delivers low latency and increased flexibility in a dense 2U design. The solution helped clients achieve single-digit microsecondlatency for high-speed trading; reduce power, cooling and real-estate costs; and speed deployment of emerging technologies.

Established in 2009, Fluent Trade Technologies strives to be the world’s fastest financial technology provider, offering an end-to-end, ultra-low latency, turnkey solution for automated trading systems and brokers. The company’s clients transact billions of dollars daily through its high-performance ecosystem, leveraging the company’s expertise in data processing, trading, large database warehousing, data distribution, monitoring and risk management. Fluent also offers hosting in eight geographical locations, connectivity to more than 65 liquidity providers and a wealth of complementary market-data tools.

Raising the bar for high-speed tradingIn the competitive world of high-frequency trading, the success or failure in executing a trade can come down to a few microseconds. And there can be millions of dollars at stake with each transaction. To deliver the high-speed data transfer rates that its financial services clients require, Fluent is constantly looking for new ways to accelerate the performance of its IT infrastructure. In early 2014, Fluent found the combination of low-latency power and speed it needed in the System x platform.

Fluent Trade Technologies fuels performance for ultra-low-latency trading with System x servers

COMPUTER SERVICES

“The System x server’s performance, number of CPU cores, flexibility and density is unmatched.”

—Moshe Roffe,CTO and Head of IT and Connectivity, Fluent Trade

Technologies

CASE STUDYCOMPUTER SERVICES

“Our business is all about providing low latency. We are always looking for new technologies that can trim off microseconds in terms of speed for our clients,” says Moshe Roffe, CTO and Head of IT and Connectivity at Fluent. “System x3750 M4 can do many things at once to create the efficiencies needed for low latency.”

Fluent depends upon high-performance systems that enable clients to run complex queries on large data volumes and get real-time results. But in addition to being fast and powerful, the company’s systems also needed to help them control expenses. “The costs of running a high-performance trading infrastructure can quickly add up,” says Roffe. “By maximizing rack density and energy efficiency, we can reduce operating expenses for both ourselves and our clients.”

Delivering performance and efficiencyAfter extensive benchmark testing, Fluent decided to upgrade its trading platform using System x3750 M4 servers with Intel® Xeon® E5 family of processors. The servers run Fluent’s proprietary software with streaming market data, intensive trading algorithms and risk calculations on multiple asset classes. With a fully loaded system, Fluent achieved single-digit microsecond latency—that is, only a few millionths of a second latency.

What’s more, the Fluent IT team reported that the System x3750 M4 servers were extremely easy to integrate with third-party systems, internal banking systems and hedge fund systems. As a result, the time to market can be greatly reduced.

“The System x server’s performance, number of CPU cores, flexibility and density is unmatched,” says Eric Griffin, IT Director at Fluent. “We have tested other solutions, but none of them came close to the low-latency performance, availability and expandability of the x3750 M4 servers.”

In particular, the System x3750 M4 servers provide the advantages of a four-socket server in a dense 2U design, optimized for price and performance. The servers also support up to 48 dual inline memory modules (DIMMs), 16 hard disk drives (HDDs) or 32 eXFlash solid-state drives (SSDs), and eight PCIe slots. Combining this with up to four 12-core Intel Xeon E5 family of processors yields immense computational capacity in a 2U device. In addition, low-latency PCI devices such as network cards from Mellanox or Solarflare can be placed in PCI slots connected to the processors running the code that needs data the fastest.

From a business perspective, the System x3750 M4 servers include numerous redundancy features to help Fluent ensure continuous availability for clients. The company can also reduce operational expenses since the servers fit more computational power (up to 48 cores) in a small footprint, requiring less power, cooling and rack space. Fluent can keep its own costs down and also gain a competitive edge by offering more energy-efficient solutions to clients.

Solution componentsHardwareSystem x3750 M4 with Intel® Xeon® E5 family of

processors

CASE STUDYCOMPUTER SERVICES

Innovating for the futureFluent is also working with other technology providers to uncover additional ways to enhance the performance and efficiency of its trading platform. The company is looking to expand into big data and event-driven analytics, using cost-effective, industry-standard systems to perform real-time analysis and post-trade investigations.

“Our goal is to expand beyond foreign exchange markets to futures, options and equities,” says Joel Steinmetz, Managing Director at Fluent. “So it will be increasingly important for our clients to be able to analyze financial information on the fly to improve decision speed and accuracy.”

Thanks to System x3750 M4, Fluent can help its clients’ use the most advanced trading algorithms, combined with streaming market data, to make informed decisions about executing trades. Providing ultra-fast, low-latency performance with high availability, high density and the ability to grow both vertically and horizontally, System x3750 M4 allows Fluent to give its clients a competitive edge.

From small configuration changes to new system integrations, the solution gives Fluent the power to rapidly respond to market changes and technology shifts—so its financial services clients can reap the rewards of tick-to-trade efficiency.

For more informationTo learn more about Lenovo Data Center Systems solutions, contact your Lenovo Sales Representative or Lenovo Business Partner, or visit: lenovo.com/systems

For more information about Fluent Trade Technologies, visit: www.fluenttech.net or connect with them at www.facebook.com/Fluent-Trade-Technologies

“We are always looking for new technologies that can trim off microseconds for our clients.

System x3750 M4 can do many things at once to create the efficiencies needed for low latency.”

—Moshe Roffe,CTO and Head of IT and Connectivity, Fluent Trade Technologies

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Availability: Offers, prices, specifications and availability may change without notice. Lenovo is not responsible for photographic or typographic errors. Warranty: For a copy of applicable warranties, write to: Lenovo Warranty Information, 1009 Think Place, Morrisville, NC, 27560. Lenovo makes no representation or warranty regarding third-party products or services. Trademarks: Lenovo, the Lenovo logo, and System x are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon and Xeon Inside are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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