Just checking the options. You can get a server in 60 Hudson for $99 a month. Seems much cheaper than steadfast or speedy trading servers. http://www.colocationamerica.com/products/servers/
Is there any benefit to co-location for discretionary trading? Maybe if you used only LMT orders it would help... I think probably not - but asking anyway. Thank you
Yes. If you use any kind of automation (like ninja offers, automatically putting stops, trailinv them etc.) and consider that your home may have bad internet or power at times, using a VPS for discretionary trading means that even when you loose at home internet during a trade, the stop and possibly trail and target get handled as per automatic rules. Contrary to not at all.
Big difference between "co-location" and "hosted" or "VPS" or "running virtual". If I plug my netbook into same switch or firewall that the execution engine and data provider also plug into I'm "collocated". (located in same place) Differentiate between latency requirements and bandwidth requirements as well as up-time or runtime requirements. If your wife bitches about the power bill because you have 6 loud/noisy desktops running 24/7 then maybe it is worth it to "host" a server in a data center facility (close to your home). If you need faster order placement or order cancels maybe it makes sense to move your computer closer to your broker.... Closest Amazon Cloud to NYC/NJ is Virginia/DC area. Brooklyn all the way up to Stamford have a bunch of cheap hosting providers that will get you in much cheaper than Amazon.
Just as reference: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/08/memsql-and-amazon/ Reading it is enlightening - the price for a colocated server or even a rented vm is just a LOT cheaper than the cloud.
Secrets of IB. Create a ticket in account management asking for a vps or dedicated server and you get the email address of the department at ib that offer them.