Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Trading Platform Hardware Refresh

IEX Trading Alert #2016 - 012

Please Route To: Trading, Operations, and Trade Support

What you need to know:

• For the remainder of April and all of May, IEX will incrementally transition to new hardware for all aspects of the trading platform, including connectivity, matching, and routing.
  • Subscribers do not need to make any changes to their configurations or test against the new trading platform.
  • If any issues are detected, failover will not require Subscriber interaction, but may require Subscribers to reconnect (IEX will notify Subscribers if/when necessary).
• Subscribers are not expected to experience material additional latency during the FIX Order Entry Gateway application migration (Thursday, Apr 28 - Friday, May 6).
• IEX is upgrading infrastructure to manage future growth, increase capacity, and improve performance of the trading platform.

What is the hardware refresh IEX will perform?

IEX will incrementally transition its trading platform to new hardware located in an adjacent cage at the primary data center (CenturyLink's NJ2X in Weehawken, NJ). All networking equipment and trading application hardware are being refreshed during this effort. The upgraded infrastructure will allow IEX to manage future growth, increase capacity, and improve performance of the trading platform.

How does IEX plan to transition to the new hardware?

The new trading platform, and all applications in that environment, will complete migration and become the primary trading platform on a single date, Monday, May 9. Below are more detailed steps in the transition and projected timing (Note that dates may change. IEX will notify Subscribers through a Trading Alert if the schedule is modified):

1. Subscriber order entry arrives (vertical arrows depicted below) at FIX Order Entry Gateway ("FIX") application instances in the current trading platform ("OLD Platform" or "OLD"). All aspects of the trading platform are located in the OLD Platform. The OLD Platform is the primary trading platform.



2. Relay applications (horizontal arrows depicted below) are setup to send data between the OLD Platform and the new trading platform ("NEW Platform" or "NEW"). Applications migrate incrementally from the OLD Platform to the NEW Platform:
   1. Warm-up: Trading application instances, e.g. Matching Engine ("ME") and Router, are setup incrementally in the NEW Platform from Monday, Apr 18 to Wednesday, Apr 27. The OLD Platform is the primary trading platform, but application instances in the NEW Platform are active.

   

   2. Subscriber Migration: FIX Order Entry Gateway application instances migrate to the NEW Platform from Thursday, Apr 28 to Friday, May 6. Subscriber order entry arrives at FIX Order Entry Gateway application instances in either the OLD Platform or the NEW Platform (i.e., an individual session is located one platform or the other, but not on both simultaneously). The OLD Platform is the primary trading platform, but application instances in the NEW Platform are active.

   

   3. NEW Platform Becomes Primary: Central processing application instances migrate to the NEW Platform on Monday, May 9. The NEW Platform becomes the primary trading platform, but application instances in the OLD Platform are active.

   

   4. The remainder of ancillary application instances (e.g. clearing applications) migrate to the NEW Platform from Wednesday, May 11 to Thursday, May 19. The NEW Platform is the primary trading platform, but application instances in the OLD Platform are active.
3. Trading application instances are incrementally decommissioned in the OLD Platform by the end of May. The relay applications are finally decommissioned. The NEW Platform is the primary trading platform, and the OLD Platform is inactive.

If any issues are detected during the transition, IEX will notify Subscribers and rollback to the OLD Platform. Rollback will not require Subscriber interaction unless the FIX Order Entry Gateway is rolling back, in which case Subscribers will need to reconnect after rollback is complete. If Subscriber action is required, IEX will notify Subscribers directly.

What impact will the hardware refresh have on latencies during the transition?

From Monday, Apr 18 through Friday, May 6, IEX does not expect Subscribers will experience material additional latencies in their interaction with the system. During the Client Migration, Subscriber connections that have migrated to the NEW Platform are not expected to experience material additional latencies.

What impact will the hardware refresh have on latencies and throughput after the transition?

On Monday, May 9 when the NEW Platform becomes the primary trading platform, IEX expects to increase capacity and improve performance of the trading platform.

How long has IEX been testing the new Core Trading platform?

IEX has been testing the infrastructure in the NEW Platform since October 2015.

Where can I learn more?

• Become a Member of Investors Exchange.
• View the Investors Exchange User Manual.
• View the IEX Subscriber Manual.
• Contact IEX Market Operations at 646.343.2300 or MarketOps@iextrading.com.
• View the IEX Frequently Asked Questions.

About IEX

Dedicated to institutionalizing fairness in the markets, IEX provides a more balanced marketplace via simplified market structure design and cutting-edge technology. IEX operates a fair-access platform accessible by any qualified broker dealer. IEX is driven by a team of cross-industry experts with backgrounds spanning market venues, electronic trading, and broker-dealers. IEX is the first equity trading venue seeded exclusively by a consortium of buy-side investors, including mutual funds, hedge funds, and family offices. Learn more at: iextrading.com.