Zenfire connection problems

[NinjaTrader_Austin]

MikeInMA, thank you for your suggestion. I will forward it along.

[BobCards]

While I agree that the protocol for system wide outages could be streamlined to inform the user base in a quicker fashion, the reality is all of this is a risk we take and assume responsibility for as traders.

This is not the first time a system went down and it won't be the last.

You do your best with contingency plans-
Backup datafeeds
Backup brokers
Trading Desks on speed dial

Office catches on fire, power out, exchange halts trading, it is all irrelevant. Every trade is my decision and I'm accountable for the outcome, no matter the situation. That's how I approach it anyway. Sux having trades stuck in limbo, trust me I know; But it is part of the game and it's gonna happen again(Not saying NT \ ZF specifically)
Believe it.

[dnoff]

With respect to blaming ddhstl007 for losses due to using version 7, I get the impression that NinjaTrader simply provided Canned Answer Number 12 saying "Version 7 is beta software, use it at your own risk." But sorry, we expect better, which means thoroughly understanding an issue before responding. Because as far as I can tell the same thing could have happened today to a 6.5 user.

Also along the lines of doing better, I really think NinjaTrader needs to find a better way to disseminate important information like connectivity issues. This morning I – like others, I'm sure – restarted Ninja, repaired my DB and finally resorted to rebooting my system before looking at the forum. (Won't make that mistake again....) And while the forum seemed to confirm there was a problem because many users were reporting it, there was nothing official from NinjaTrader for an hour. And even then, all we heard (from Jason) was that Zen-Fire was contacted but so far there was no news.

First of all, I can't believe nobody knew nothing for over an hour. If the problem was internal to Ninja, where somebody got information and then it became a game of Telephone as the information trickled down to Support so they could update the forum, well, fix that. If the problem really was a lack of a response from Zen-Fire, then NinjaTrader folks need to be on them like white on rice. Squeaky wheels really do get greased.

Beyond that, though, is the issue that users end up having to pull information like this from NinjaTrader, and I'd really like to suggest that NinjaTrader think about how you could push it to us instead. I don't know what that means. Tweet it? Allow us to subscribe to an email list for our connectivity provider? Other? But like I said: I think you should think about it....

MikeinMA,

i really don't think this was an NT issue, rather a ZF issue, and this is where my problem is. I think the comment about NT 7 being beta was incorrectly sent and should not have been posted, I really do not like how the broker and ZF handled at all.

I actually think that NT, ZF, and Broker should have individually the following in place:

1. A detailed incident management plan, that as soon as a issue is seen, a notification is sent to their user base. At then as a user you can react instead of wondering WTF is happening etc. Email and twitter/RSS would be easy to do.

2. Once an estimate is know, this is published

3. Once Service is restored, a summary of what, why, and what is being done to address is sent to the user base.

This is standard IT/Service Management, and NT, ZF, and broker are service providers at end of the day.

Interesting enough Mirus Futures and ZF just sent our a very good example of 3) above out explaining the issue, what happened, and what they are doing. I applaud them for that.

All providers though do need to address 1 and 2 though.

[ThatManFromTexas]

Problem with this is that this does not solve the issue that Zen handles the data and provides the account transactions as well...i.e. DTN will tell you that the current price is "X" but if Zen is broken like this morning you still cannot trade......

You are correct ,. However, if I can logon to Zen-Fire through their Web interface I can place/cancel orders if not I can call the trading desk. With a backup data feed I can see my charts and decide where I am and what I need to do. After Zen-Fire came back up, with the IQfeed, I did not have the gap in data.

Anything that depends on Internet access to operate has some risk for failure. All I can do is try to plan ahead.

[dnoff]

You are correct ,. However, if I can logon to Zen-Fire through their Web interface I can place/cancel orders if not I can call the trading desk. With a backup data feed I can see my charts and decide where I am and what I need to do. After Zen-Fire came back up, with the IQfeed, I did not have the gap in data.

Anything that depends on Internet access to operate has some risk for failure. All I can do is try to plan ahead.

Agree with Logic - My backup system is actually the ThinkOrSwim platform from a data standpoint (separate charting,/data etc). I am looking forward to the ZenFire web site as a backup also (I don't believe that this is available yet)

[tmenje]

e-mail from Mirus Futures 1:15 AM Germany

Update from Zen-Fire:
Level3, XO and Global Crossing Outage



There was a major internet outage this morning along the east coast significantly impacting the capacity of the region. Three core internet service providers each experienced interruptions leading to the loss of internet access for users or extremely slow connections while attempting to route through alternate paths.

As a result, orders routing to the data center were held up for long periods of time before reaching the Zen-Fire trading engine. Although not all Zen-Fire users were affected, the number of interruptions required the order routing services to be restarted forcing users to reconnect on a more stable path.

As the premier network and market data solution, Zen-Fire is implementing the following steps to prevent or minimize the impact of large-scale internet outages in the future.
1. Inform traders of a potential issue

Zen-Fire is working to integrate a RSS feed alerting users of the status of Internet connections. This service will be used to alert potential issues and keep traders informed on the latest developments.
2. Provide an alternate login to check order status and flatten positions

A new web based trading application will be available next month that will provide a mechanism for traders to check the real-time status of orders and positions. Traders will be able to send a 'Flatten' command directly to the engine and avoid any 3rd party trading application. This tool will only show orders that have made it to the engine and can be used to confirm the status of 'pending' orders on other platforms.
3. Addition of new ISPs

Though previously relying on the core Internet Providers, additional regional ISPs are being integrated over the weekend to serve as emergency backup when the majors become unresponsive. In rare cases, they may be used to carry the primary load for short periods of time or serve as excess bandwidth during minor outages.
4. Closer integration with 3rd party platforms

The Zen-Fire development team is working with 3rd party developers to help improve the stability and efficiency of their platforms by helping to make them more closely integrated with the engine.
Mirus Futures strives to deliver the ultimate brokerage experience through industry-leading technology and client services. Empowering self-directed traders with Zen-Fire, we will continue to provide access to the same high-speed market data and order routing used by professional firms and institutions world-wide.

If you have any further questions regarding the technical details of the outage, please contact your broker for more information. Please free to contact us with any additional questions you may have at [email protected].

[wolfram]

zenfire NT 6.5

Zenfire began an infinite reconnection loophole today , I see over 200 reconnection in the log.

[NinjaTrader_Kyle]

Hello wolfram,

I have not seen any similar reports from other users.

I would suggest restarting your PC and resetting your modem and router.

[newbie0101]

is anyone experiencing problems with zen-fire data not loading? I.E.
I open chart and it freezes with "data loading" upper left hand corner

[Radical]

is anyone experiencing problems with zen-fire data not loading? I.E.
I open chart and it freezes with "data loading" upper left hand corner

FWIW, my connection is working normally.

[newbie0101]

thks Radical

[NinjaTrader_Kyle]

Hi newbie0101,

Thanks for your post.

I haven't seen any widespread reports of this today. If you would send me a note to Support [AT] NinjaTrader [DOT] com, I would like to further investigate.

In your message, please include the following:
1.) A link to this forum thread.

2.) Your most current trace file.
You'll find the trace file in the Documents > NinjaTrader 6.5 (or 7) > Trace folder.
Today's trace file would be named 'trace.20100822.txt'.

[MXASJ]

I'm having some Zenfire issues today (Sunday night EST). Trace, logs, and workspace was just sent.

If I connect to Zenfire and open a DOM, it crashes.

If I connect to IQFeed, it doesn't crash. Note my IQFeed data is L1 only.

The Zenfire crash only happens when I open a DOM.

[NinjaTrader_Kyle]

Hello MXASJ,

Thanks for reporting this - I'll follow up with you via email.

[bce111]

Hi, Guys

The Zen-Fire feed for TF just locked up again. The others ie. YM, ES, NQ are okay but TF is frozen. I'll shut it down and open it again and see what happens. I trade TF mostly. Glad it didn't do this a few minutes ago when I had 7 active contracts. Ongoing.
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Now it just freed itself. But it was locked up for about 5 minutes. So that doesn't work. Thanks for looking into this.