IBM Demonstrates Cloud Computing Solutions and Record-breaking Low Latency Messaging Performance at SIFMA 2009

At the SIFMA Technology Management Conference & Exhibit in New York IBM (NYSE: IBM) will be demonstrating the record breaking performance of IBM WebSphere MQ Low Latency Messaging, a messaging transport that is highly optimized for the very high-volume, low-latency requirements of Financial Markets firms. IBM will also be showcasing a set of new cloud computing solutions, enhancements to its IBM’s new high-speed market data delivery platform IBM WebSphere Front Office for Financial Markets and the recently-expanded ecosystem of business partners that have chosen to support its Low Latency Messaging product.

Guy Tagliavia, Director of WebSphere Front Office and Low Latency Messaging, describes the new Version 2.2 of Low Latency Messaging as “blazing fast. It offers industry-leading messaging performance of up to an incredible 90 million messages a second. And with our new shared memory transport, we have measured latency as low as one microsecond on IBM’s new BladeCenter HS22.”

In lab tests using IBM’s Stock Exchange Reference Architecture (SXRA), which simulates a realistic stock exchange order-matching scenario, Version 2.2 has achieved over 3 million orders per second and latency as low as 20 microseconds for a round trip from Gateway to matching engine and back. This is 3 to 5 times the performance that IBM was able to achieve when it set previous records only a year ago. The SXRA environment featuring Low Latency Messaging will be recreated and on display at booth 2213 at the show.

Recent enhancements to IBM WebSphere MQ Low Latency Messaging Version 2.2 adds include the following capabilities:

  • Lightweight Message Store
  • Shared memory for inter-process communication
  • Reliable Unicast Messaging Enhancements
  • Multicast by unicast and hybrid topics
  • Enhanced High Availability Features
  • RCMS on Unicast over Reliable UDP with support for Multi-Site Failover
  • Expanded platform support: 64-bit zLinux and HP-UX on RMM
  • Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) support
  • Usability enhancements
  • Also at SIFMA IBM is showcasing enhancements to its IBM’s new high-speed market data delivery platform IBM WebSphere Front Office for Financial Markets. These enhancements include:

  • Dozens of new feed handlers supporting more than 55 data feeds including all major US and International data sources.
  • Consolidated order book functionality.
  • High-speed multicast and point-to-point messaging support.
  • IBM will also be showcasing its recently announced suite of cloud computing solutions, IBM Smart Business cloud services portfolio and IBM CloudBurst systems — pre-integrated hardware, software and services offerings that are geared to offer clients new delivery models for IT capabilities. In survey results to be launched on June 24th at SIFMA a significant increase in the level of interest in cloud computing has been identified as firms seek to overcome budgetary restrictions and skills shortages. While there was little perceived change in the perceived disruptive impact of all other technologies, the number of respondents predicting that cloud computing was going to force significant business change more than doubled (from 21% in 2008 to 46% in 2009), making it the top disruptive technology, ahead of even operational risk modeling and mobile technologies. The survey of over 350 Wall Street Information Technology (IT) professional was conducted by IBM, in conjunction with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

    Recently a number of ISV have decided to enable on IBM’s WebSphere MQ Low Latency Messaging product. Available at IBM’s booth (booth 2213) at SIFMA will be information on the following partners:

  • Chi-Tech which provides proven, adaptive, high performance trading technology and services to exchanges and other trading venues.
  • FIX Flyer, a leader in efficient and transparent trading, which provides managed FIX services, FIX engine agnostic monitoring, CSA, risk and trade surveillance reporting, FIX certification and testing tools, and fully hosted web applications for algorithmic trading and wealth management.
  • Rapid Addition which is a leading software solutions provider of FIX and FAST products which focus on high performance and low latency, capturing the company’s unique insight and extensive experience in the FIX marketplace.
  • Correlix, Inc. which provides an inter-party latency management service that enables trading partner latency visibility in a secure environment. Customers also rely on Correlix to monitor, measure and minimize latency in trade execution and market data flow in real time.
  • Pantor Engineering which provides advanced products for building and monitoring transaction systems.
  • Voltaire which is a leading provider of scale-out computing fabrics for data centers, high performance computing and cloud environments.
  • Vermeg which provides STP solutions, advanced technology, and strong expertise in securities processing, corporate actions and fund management.
  • Broadway Technology which develops real-time solutions for the financial trading community using its flagship technology to create extensible and scalable distributed application environments.
  • Street Response Labs (SR Labs) which provides low latency market data solution for the Financial Industry.
  • NetScout Systems, Inc. which is a market leader in the development of advanced network and application performance management solutions for leading organizations worldwide.
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