Together, Solace and Cisco enable an all-hardware solution that lets customers deploy and manage middleware environments that support the ultra-low latency and high message rates they need, with much lower cost and complexity than systems that introduce software into the equation.
Solace and Cisco have worked together on a number of initiatives to document and demonstrate this value.
Ultra Low Latency Market Data Distribution
With more trading decisions and order execution processes being automated, it is critical to make sure information flows quickly and consistently through the front, mid and back office. The picture goes well beyond just raw speed, however, as market participants understand that consistency and predictability are just as important.
Cisco and Solace have published a paper that describes how a system based on message routers from Solace Systems and 10GigE technology from Cisco Systems and Solarflare Communications can deliver lower and more consistent latency than software-based solutions. The paper provides performance numbers including average and 99.9th percentile figures at a variety of rates. When routing 1,000,000 messages per second the platform exhibited average latency of 28 microseconds and 99.9th percentile latency of 32 microseconds. At five times that volume, a rate that represents substantial performance headroom for most firms, latency was still low with minimal jitter: averaging 39 microseconds with 99.9th percentile of 48.
Unified Infrastructure for Financial Services Middleware
An all-hardware solution comprised of Solace and Cisco equipment enables customers to deploy and manage middleware environments that support the ultra-low latency and high message rates financial services firms demand with much lower cost and complexity than systems that introduce software into the equation. The architecture shown here was used to test and document the performance of such a system in a variety of real-world scenarios featuring bursty traffic, variable message sizes, and high message volumes.