Forex trading is one of the commercial transaction terms you will often hear in the financial market, particularly familiar if you work within the financial industry.
If you wish to use an EA (Expert Advisor) for automated forex trading, a Forex VPS is an indispensable tool in your daily trading.
The forex market is one of the best places to invest your money and make significant profits, similar to the stock, bonds, and futures markets; you could either get rich overnight or go broke in the same speed.
Knowledge and proper application make it a great way to earn money; misuse it, and it turns into a scam, just like any other profession, forex trading also requires a certain level of professional skills.
In this article, I will tell you what a VPS for forex trading is, how it helps improve trading, and where to get the best cheap VPS servers for forex trading in the market.
1. What is a VPS
VPS (Virtual Private Server) is a technology that divides a server into multiple virtual dedicated servers. Equivalent to an independent computer, it can install operating systems like Windows, as well as some software, and can operate online uninterrupted 24 hours a day.
2. The role of VPS in forex trading
2.1 Improve connection speed
If the server is far from your location, causing significant trading delays, you need a VPS closer to the server for a faster network connection speed and less delay.
Regulated brokers ensure their trading servers are set overseas for both regulatory and legal requirements, and to be closer to LP servers, which also improves the network connection speed between the platform and LP. If a broker’s server is in the mainland, then it definitely is an untrustworthy platform.
To ensure continuous trading, your computer must be on at all times. There's a certain risk for traders using EA on their home or office computers, as it is difficult to guarantee that the computer won't go offline, stop due to a power outage, or encounter hardware failures.
With a VPS, traders have their own remote virtual server, which does not consume any resources from their physical computer, allowing them to trade forex from anywhere in the world through the Internet.
These servers are mainly located in hotspots of the forex market, such as New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo, Frankfurt, and Sydney. The closer the server to the trading venue, the faster the execution speed, allowing you to enjoy lower network latency and faster quotes.
If you need a computer with better specifications and internet connection for trading, there’s no need to spend extra money buying an expensive PC system. By using a VPS with the forex EA intelligent trading system, you can quickly perform forex trades.
Nowadays, mainland China's control over overseas network connections is getting stricter, affecting many regulated brokers' server connections, similar to the experience of playing foreign service games with high latency. Especially, China Mobile's network connection to overseas is the most challenging, causing some regulated platforms to be unfairly exposed by naive customers and unscrupulous media for "platform disconnections and concentrated customer complaints," which is ironic. In such cases, applying for a VPS to operate within is necessary.
2.2 24-hour running of EA
In recent years, EA automated trading has become increasingly popular. Many people like using EA for trading but worry about leaving their computer on 24 hours, fearing someone else might touch it or that a sudden power or internet outage could greatly affect its convenience. Using a VPS, after setting up the EA inside, you can disconnect your computer from the VPS and turn it off. The VPS acts like a computer that is on and connected to the internet 24 hours a day, automatically running EA.
3. Applying for or purchasing a VPS
Forex platforms often provide free VPS, but there may be requirements for deposit amounts or trading volumes. Individual traders who meet the criteria can use the platform's free VPS. The VPS provided by the platform usually has lower configurations, capable of hosting 3-10 MT4 software, suitable for individuals or small studios. If the requirements for the free VPS are not met, the platform can also offer it for a fee, but usually at a higher price than purchasing it on your own.
For large asset management institutions needing to run many MT4 software on a VPS, it is not recommended to use the platform's VPS for inconvenient management. It is advised to buy a high-configuration server, where one server can host 30 MT4s, for ease of management. Common purchasing sites in China include Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud, which require real-name registration.
However, if you want to buy a VPS with the lowest latency, the most convenient method is to purchase from the MQL5 website, which can recommend a closer VPS based on the location of the broker's server.
4. Using VPS
4.1 Computer
VPS is usually operated by connecting from a computer, easily found by searching "Remote Desktop Connection" in the start menu. Open it and enter the IP address, username, password to connect to the VPS.
Once connected, operating the VPS is like using QQ remote; you can directly copy and paste files from your computer to the VPS.
4.2 Mobile
A mobile phone can also connect to a VPS by downloading an app called RD Client. Due to the small screen size of mobile phones, it's not recommended for operations, only for emergency use when away from a PC.
4.3 Usage precautions
Minimize installing unnecessary files and programs in the VPS to improve its running speed;
If only for running EA, after hanging the EA, minimize the MT4 software before disconnecting to improve the running speed;
When operating the VPS, if it feels sluggish, stop opening more MT4 software to avoid increasing the risk of crashing;
Log in to the VPS periodically or check in other MT4 software for the MT4 accounts running in the VPS for normal operation and take timely remedial measures if anomalies are found;
No VPS provider can guarantee the data center is powered 24 hours without internet interruption, but some providers send text alerts under special circumstances (including abnormal IP address login), please add the alert number to your phone's whitelist.
5. Why should traders use VPS servers for forex trading?
Forex trading is an online business, and the chance of success often depends on various computer technologies used.
Here are some common advantages of VPS servers that make it more beneficial for forex trading than using your home computer:
5.1 Hardware resources
Home computers are typically not a suitable solution for forex trading, with unstable internet speed, network delays, or power outages affecting trading.
Forex trading requires combining multiple software and tools for smooth operation, which can be expensive on a hardware system. Using a VPS can meet trading requirements at an affordable price.
VPS host servers are usually located in multiple data centers, having a massive amount of computing resources and various hardware configurations to choose from, enabling rapid implementation of trading services.
5.2 Stability and availability
The normal operation time of the trading system is essential for forex trading, and VPS servers can be accessed at any time.
If you're using trading platforms and robots like MetaTrader and Expert Advisors, you need a computer that can guarantee to be stable online 24 hours, ensuring no missed trading opportunities.
Extended operation times of home hosts inevitably lead to crashes, and it's impossible to ensure they are always online, negatively affecting stable trading.
5.3 Location
One of the most important reasons to use a forex trading VPS host is the geographical location.
Delays in forex trading can lead to issues like lag or slippage; to avoid trading delays, traders must be close to their brokers.
If you find a VPS provider at the same location as your broker, the latency issues are resolved. You don't need to be with the broker, just close enough for trading.
5.4 Scalability
Forex trading platforms have specific hardware requirements, e.g., adding a new terminal in MetaTrader 4 requires at least 1GB of additional memory.
If you want to add more platforms and terminals, you must upgrade your home computer, a time-consuming and expensive process.
If you pay for a specialized VPS for forex trading, it's a scalable system; system resources can be adjusted anytime based on changes in trading business.
5.5 Exclusivity
Imagine running multiple software on your home computer and adding a large number of trading platforms; if the system can't handle all the data, the trading programs will crash and stop.
Many VPS providers offer servers optimized for trading, often with popular trading platforms pre-installed, eliminating the need for additional configuration and installation of extra programs.
Moreover, VPS also provides antivirus protection, defense against malicious attacks, and data security backup features, ensuring uninterrupted trading in case of unexpected incidents on users' personal computers.
Conclusion
The forex market is one of the largest trading markets in the world, with many professional traders from around the globe profiting through it.
Choosing the right overseas server VPS hosting for forex trading depends on the specific needs of the trader, ensuring that your needs come first in your choice of host.
If you're not very tech-savvy, you may need a VPS pre-equipped with terminals and quick deployment for the forex platform, ready to use out of the box, especially suited for traders without professional computer skills.
If staying ahead of your competitors is more important, you might choose a VPS host provider with many centers and very little latency, as technology becomes a core competitive strength at that point.
