Adding To Your Assessment: INXR Technology Platform
( former modertor info)
NOTES ON INXR TECHNOLOGY
I took these comments down in discussing with iFinix their platform and what I think they were trying to convey to me about what is their proprietary coding and intellectual property. They said it was OK to talk about and frankly I don't have the know how to be absolutely certain of everything I have written down, but here goes.
As we have seen recently the proprietary angle is important to the company and their vision of their future as recently shown by their intent to do patent protection of their data processes.
As a non-programmer I took these notes and they are not going to be particularly well ordered. Consider more of a bullet list of things that seemed to be of importance and the areas focused on by the company and its programmers in which they appear intent on making their make and differentiating their product.
I'm sure more savvy techies will immediately grasp some of what I'm saying is going to inherent in the design of any trading system thus rendering some of what I say as generic in nature. But then that is the way it should be as I don't care to know anything more than I already do and the company obviously intends to not divulge that which they intend to market, patent and protect anyway.
The following are my notes which I think more than anything gives us all some idea of the possible complexities of putting together a solid data delivery and trade execution system. These are some of the criteria that I captured in notes that must be addressed to do so.
- Fault Tolerance
- Intelligent Order Routing
- Data Formatting Processes which ensures both Data Integrity and Recognizes & Removes Stale Data immediately
- Memory Management
- Resource Management (both client and server side)
- Effective Redundant Backup of transmitted data
- Speed of Execution (clean coding = ability to shave off valuable milliseconds in electronic data and commands)
- Tracking Data Packets (important for maintaining data integrity)
- NASD OATS (Order Audit Trail System) integration. This is part of coding trading systems and it is required of MMs (and thus it can make the platform enabled for INXR expansion into the MMs, broker-dealer and professional trading organizations)
- Order Tracking. Time or entry, time stamping transmission, exchange execution times, rejections, cancellations (again, all formatted to OATS standards)
- Framework Build. Programmers will understand that terminology because I'm not sure what it means, except that when done properly and with advance planning for scalability and the addition of more features and functions, a properly established development framework leads to more rapid development of all of those future modules, features and functions to be added as time goes on.
- Server Code. Memory databasing to parse data using proprietary algorithms to store and process this data. Important is separate server-side requirements for different financial markets.
- Data Feed Handler. As I understand it, that is the fancy way of saying user interface, in other words the modules you'll be using (or the Front End). A streamer is the output of a data feed handler that takes all of the data flowing to the company from the various exchanges and their coding converts it into a unified language read by your interface.
- Coding Languages. Desktop = C++ for most stable and modern code base. Web Module is either Java or .Net but I'm not sure.
- Browsers. They are enabling both MS Explorer and FireFox. I know that I cannot run AlphaTrade in Firefox so that is good to know.
- OS environments. Plans to suppor Windows 2000, XP and Vista plus Apple OS. Not sure about open source environments like Linux.
- FIX = Standard Financial Institutional Exhange data protocols. If I got this right, every brokerage, every execution in the markets must be scripted to deal with FIX protocols. There are different FIX versions making it a very tricky thing to navigate for any systems integrator.
- FIX Engines. Furthermore, many brokerages will not code their own FIX solutions but will buy FIX engines to plug into their product environments. A good FIX engine solution can cost hundreds of thousands and many do not have their own proprietary FIX engines. iFinix does. That adds to their asset value base. It also means they may license out their FIX engine solution for good income in the future too.
- 32 vs. 64 bit coding. The development of iFinix products are being coded to allow for 64 bit environments therefore they said they are coding to launch in what is still a largely 32 bit world, but will be able to rollout 64 bit product versions into what is about to become a faster 64 bit programming world. This is good news.
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