US-based electronic communications network (ECN) Archipelago has purchased more than 1500 Compaq ProLiant servers as part of an initiative to create the world's first fully electronic national stock exchange.
"Our intent is to provide a quantum change in the way the market conducts everyday business, enabled by technology," says Buddy Meek, Archipelago's chief information officer.
Archipelago, with a current volume of more than 80 million shares per day, and the Pacific Exchange, the third most active stock exchange in the US with a volume averaging nearly 25 million shares each day, announced the formation of the Archipelago Exchange in July. Pending regulatory approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Archipelago Exchange aims to provide participants with a fully automated trading platform for New York Stock Exchange (Nyse), American Stock Exchange (Amex) and Nasdaq stocks.
Some 1500 Compaq ProLiant DL 580, ML570 and DL360 servers have either been ordered or will be by the end of the year to provide processor, memory, storage and networking capabilities for Archipelago's two data centres in New York City and Chicago.