Big Mike's Trading Blog

In this post I thought I'd describe the hardware I use to trade with and my office. I'll describe all the software in a later post.

First, I have three systems.

System 1 - Primary trading system & desktop

• Intel Core i7 920, overclocked @ 3.8GHz
• 12GB memory
• 3Ware 9690-SA hardware RAID controller w/(4) Patriot 32GB SSD's in a RAID 0 and (2) WD Black 750GB in a RAID 1
• (3) Acer 22" monitors (1680x1050 each)
  
• Windows 7 x64
  

System 2 - Primary server

• Intel Q6600 Quad, stock @ 2.4GHz
• 8GB memory
• (2) Seagate 750GB in RAID 1
• Headless (no monitor)
• Windows Server 2008 x64
• VMware Server w/multiple VM's
  

System 3 - Secondary server

• Intel E6850 Dual, overclocked @ 3.5GHz
• 8GB memory
• (3) WD 320GB in RAID 0
• Headless (no monitor)
• Ubuntu Server 8.10 x64

From there, I have a redundant router from TP-Link that allows me to load balance and failover my two internet connections (DSL + Cable). This gives me the best speed, plus redundancy if one should go down. The rest of my network is either Gigabit wired (to/from my primary desktop and my servers) or Wireless (for my notebook, and other wireless devices in my house like my PS3 or Netflix Roku).

I have a nice home office. The office is approximately 360 sq ft and resides at the front of my house with five windows. It is well lit and offers plenty of room for accessories like bookshelves, file cabinets, copiers/scanners/fax machines, printers, my three computer systems, and a 61" TV (for CNBC if anything, I rarely have it on while working).

There is also plenty of room for my pets -- two labs and a short haired cat.

I am divorced, so it's mainly just me and the pets. Gives me plenty of time to focus on trading about 18 hours a day!

Mike