From September 2009, fasterLAB, incorporating Intel's engineering activity for low latency, will be extended into the LD4 data centre, allowing all participants of Equinix Financial eXchange, a neutral marketplace comprising a growing number of financial market participants, to fine tune their operational infrastructure to ensure best possible execution times when they engage colocation operations. This collaboration means that, for the first time, the expertise brought by fasterLAB will be available outside Intel's own test facilities and in a live production environment.

Equinix Financial eXchange consists of execution venues, buy and sell side firms, market data providers, technology providers and financial networks that locate infrastructure within Equinix data centres in order to benefit from highly reliable, low latency connectivity. Intel will be available to work with this community, focusing on the infrastructure level architecture of their trading systems, to deliver further throughput and latency improvements.

Under the arrangement, Equinix will provide colocation space for fasterLAB's proof of concept work, while Intel will provide Equinix's customers with access to the latest processors, working with a range of technology partners to test systems, using enhanced, updated configurations against a range of real-life operational trade execution scenarios. Following proof of concept, upgrades can then be defined and deployed as needed. This new extended fasterLABs initiative will help Equinix customers reduce the risks associated with innovation, gain access to a wider range of new technologies and cut the testing cycle for new technology deployments.

"We are delighted that Intel has decided to work with us to extend its fasterLAB initiative into our London-Slough data center," said Petrina Steele, vice president, business development at Equinix in Europe. "Intel's proven track record of optimising trading architectures to dramatddramatically reduce latency, will be of significant value to the community of financial firms colocated within our LD4 centre, whose number one requirement is cut execution times."

Supporting companies assisting in the fasterLAB intiative include ACTIV Financial, Citihub, Chi-X, Chi-Tech, Correlix, Corvil, Fixnetix, ICAP, Progress Software's Apama Algorithm Trading Platform, Quanthouse, Rapid Addition, SeaNet Technologies, Sun Microsystems, TBricks, Thomson Reuters, TS-Associates plc and Verari Systems, as well as other leading engineering consulting companies, trading services firms, niche software providers and hardware and infrastructure specialists.

"Colocation has now become one of the key facets in the quest for low latency and best practice trade execution, but it is equally critical for financial firms to scrutinise and tune all aspects of their technology infrastructures in order to optimise performance," said Nigel Woodward, worldwide director, financial services, Intel. "It is a natural progression for Intel to team up with Equinix to facilitate faster trading operations and we hope that the collaboration will represent a very positive development for all market participants."