“Exegy’s latest generation ticker plant offers the most compact and efficient solution, providing the necessary speed and capacity while lowering total costs, along with a 24×7 managed service that delivers peace of mind and performance improvements into the future.”
Exegy has announced the launch of an innovative ticker plant, purpose-built for processing options market data, that can process the OPRA feed on a single 2U server and provides an immediate 2x latency reduction compared to the previous generation.
The 6th iteration of this ticker plant lays the groundwork for forthcoming reductions in latency and enhancements in features, building upon its track record of over 15 years as the optimal, meticulously managed market data solution for premier brokers, trading platforms, and global hedge funds in the industry.
FPGA-based solution ahead of OPRA feed launch on October 9th
Given the continuous surge in options trading volumes and the imminent launch of the new OPRA feed on October 9th, the capability to consistently handle escalating quantities of market data with minimal and consistent delays holds paramount importance for the trading community.
As of the conclusion of 2022, the quantity of US stock options contracts had exceeded 10 billion, with the volumes of individual-stock and index options more than doubling since 2019. Presently, OPRA’s guidelines indicate that participants should brace themselves for a capacity of over 120 million messages per second, as part of the expansion plans.
Exegy’s distinctive managed appliance, based on FPGA technology, offers a level of scalability that surpasses that of entirely software-dependent solutions and has the capacity to achieve significantly higher throughput owing to the inherent nature of this technology.
This results in a marked reduction in the total cost of ownership (TCO) when compared to solutions that are exclusively software-based. Ultimately, a failure of the infrastructure to accommodate the surge in data volumes could result in diminished trading profitability.
“Scalable and resilient infrastructure to keep pace with data volumes”
David Taylor, Chief Executive Officer of Exegy, commented: “The sustained volatility in capital markets continues to drive market data volumes to new historic peaks, especially in the US equity options markets. The OPRA consolidated tape doubling its data streams and new options markets coming online imminently further increases the pressure on existing market data infrastructures.
“Quickly and efficiently processing US Options market data has become more challenging due to the runaway volumes and sustained volatility driven by macroeconomic events and increased retail participation in the asset class. The Exegy Ticker Plant is designed to handle options thanks to a unique combination of capacity, speed, integrated analytics, and resiliency. Since its launch in 2006, our managed service model has fostered close partnerships and delivered quantifiable value to our clients. We pride ourselves in our long history of a user-centric approach through the continuous integration of invaluable feedback from the most sophisticated users in capital markets.”
Arnaud Derasse, Chief Product Officer at Exegy, added: “Trading institutions need to boost capacity regularly with scalable and resilient infrastructure to keep pace with data volumes. This is particularly true for US options trading today. Exegy’s latest generation ticker plant offers the most compact and efficient solution, providing the necessary speed and capacity while lowering total costs, along with a 24×7 managed service that delivers peace of mind and performance improvements into the future.”
An overview of Exegy Ticker Plants
Exegy Ticker Plants offers a substantially reduced footprint, with a single 2U server for the OPRA feed that diminishes datacenter rack space requirements by 15-20 times compared to software-only alternatives.
It boasts unparalleled capacity, employing cutting-edge AMD EPYC CPUs and Virtex UltraScale+ FPGAs, which provide an unmatched quantity of cores and parallel processing capability, allowing for the handling of tens of millions of instruments on a single device.
This is accompanied by consistent performance, ensuring deterministic output even during periods of heightened volatility; with median latency decreased by 34% in comparison to the previous generation and consistent speed at the 99.99th percentile.
The technology is designed to be future-proof and cost-efficient, offering an immediate Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) reduction compared to in-house development and software-only solutions, while also accommodating future growth in market data rates.
To further decrease costs, Exegy provides 24×7 managed services. The deployment is adaptable, offering reliable point-to-point connectivity through RDMA and TCP, as well as multicast capabilities.
Additionally, fast time-to-market is ensured with the availability of the standard Exegy API (XCAPI), facilitating a seamless transition for current clients and straightforward integration for new users.
Featuring added backing for US equities and commodities, this advanced ticker plant of the next generation offers both adaptability and the robustness needed to adeptly manage extensive data volumes. Clients transitioning to this upgraded platform will enjoy the advantage of Exegy’s proficiency in facilitating seamless transitions or enhancements, enabling them to swiftly access the benefits of this product.
