ComStock, Inc., an Interactive Data Corporation company (NYSE: IDC) and a leading provider of real-time global market data, today unveiled its next-generation data distribution network.
The new, high-speed Titan Data Network is designed to carry data at rates of up to 300 megabits per second (Mbps), up from the current limit of 42Mbps on ComStock's IP4 network that was launched in early 2005. This represents an increase of more than 600%. The Titan Data Network, which utilizes the same underlying technical infrastructure upon which the IP4 network was built, has the expanded network capacity designed to more effectively manage the rapid increases in data volume across the industry, while maintaining low latency.
"In both 2004 and 2005, ComStock saw data volumes grow by more than 100%," said Don Finucane, vice president of marketing and product management for ComStock. "We expect this rapid growth rate to continue in 2006, particularly in light of the recent volume projections we have seen from the Options Price Reporting Authority and market events like Regulation NMS."
At 300 Mbps, the Titan Data Network is projected to accommodate the full breadth of PlusFeed, ComStock's high-speed datafeed service, through 2008 data volume level projections. PlusFeed's coverage currently encompasses more than 350 global exchanges and sources across all asset classes, including full tick coverage of options data from The Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) and tick data from the major Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs).
Delivered via a DS3/OC3 or other high bandwidth connection, the Titan Data Network is currently deployed at 50 Mbps, which is considered to reflect recent market data levels while offering room for near-term growth. As volumes increase further and client needs evolve, the new network can be gradually raised up to 300 Mbps.
In tandem with the development of the distribution network, ComStock has re-engineered its ticker plant. The newly created high performance ticker plant is designed to handle and process larger volumes of data - 3,000,000 messages a second, up from 450,000. The improvements have been achieved primarily through the introduction of a distributed architecture that allows data processing to be shared across additional hardware, including more powerful servers, the use of new technology such as dual-core processors, and the rewriting of core software applications.
"Despite the massive increases in data volume, many of our clients will continue to require complete tick data with minimal latency," said Mark Hepsworth, president of ComStock. "We believe that the investments that we are making to expand our ticker plant and enhance our distribution technology will enable us to remain at the forefront of the real-time market data industry, while we continue to provide our clients with the level of service that they expect."
For clients with smaller-scale data needs, ComStock offers intelligent publish/subscribe technology that offers customized lower bandwidth solutions, enabling clients to receive only a subset of the entire datafeed.
ComStock's clients that currently subscribe to the 42 Mbps IP4 network only need to add bandwidth to utilize the new network.