The Messed Up ISP Trouble
By Lawrence
Since my programmers are stepping up the effort to release my new real-time trading tools, lots of testing are done which results in very high bandwidth usage. Well, our bandwidth usage has always been very high as my servers are collecting tick data on every single traded instruments around the world. This time, however, we are uploading the analytical results that stressed out the upload capacity of my ISP, Rogers.
Rogers Trouble Again
As we try to upgrade our service so that we can upload more data in real time, we are sent email warnings that we are being suspected of illegal activities. Namely, we are potentially operating some kind of file sharing sites based on suspicious traffic patterns. This is so ridiculous that when I talked to their support, they are not helping me to solve our problem and instead telling me to stop the illegal activities.
I have to write to their management explaining the situation and invited them to check out what we are doing. It takes forever to deal with Rogers as many Canadians already experienced how bad it can get when you have trouble with its services. There is no difference this time. A week wasted on such simple technical issue.
This incident raises an interesting question – I wonder what Rogers is doing behind the scene in terms of monitoring everyone’s internet usage. I though living in China means your every actions on the net is monitored. Now I have learned that it is true in Canada too.
One Technical Issue Resolved Expensively
Now that we are back on track to work on our real-time trading tool projects, we have to work on ways to not trigger future trouble from Rogers as they said they cannot stop the warning and potential blocking of our internet traffic in the future. You may think that why I do not simply switch to the alternative ISPs here. Well, from my research on this issue, the monitoring of traffic here is done at the backbone level on all internet access in Canada. we cannot avoid it at all.
As a small business operation, we do not have the bargain power to deal with this so I have to work around it. We are going to install new servers and routers here that establish hardware level secure communications to our web servers. This should prevent future trouble of this kind from happening no matter which ISP we are going to use in the future.
Thus, we may have a week of busy days ahead to setup the servers and routers going into early March. This is not what I can foresee and I am not very happy with the extend of effort we have to put in to resolve the problem. Well, to look at this positively, I’ve learned something new about information privacy in Canada.
Delayed Not Postponed
Creating new trading tools always entails solving hundreds if not thousands of technical issues. Some are expected and some are not. The key to getting huge project done is to focus on the end results needed and tackle every difficult task with a set of objectives so that you are not consumed by the urge to over do something for personal satisfaction. This aspect of managing complex projects and businesses does not require talent. It takes grit.
I see a delay of the release of the real-time tools but it is not within expectations. I will keep you all posted on the progress. For now, my task is to organize a smooth installation of new hardware and software.
I can’t overstate the privilege of being the beneficiary of of this level of institutional level development and support without having first signed a “Goldman Sachs” nondisclosure before being brought into the inner circle of trading savvy. It’s the kind of thing from which legends are born. Thanks for spending 6 figures in website development and a lifetime of research to share with lowly retail traders for next to nothing. I don’t get it. Is altruism still alive on Earth?
Han, I am flattered.
One of my mentors who taught me how to trade with point and figure charts “correctly” told me once that if you fail to teach what you know to others, you do not know enough. In order to tell if you really know something, not just a basic understanding, teaching what you know (or at least go through the thought process of teaching) gives you the chance to really look at your knowledge from a different angle. That probably planted the idea to teach what I know to others.
It feels great seeing positive transformation in traders. Helping traders one on one limits the number of people I can help even though it is the best way to unlock someone’s trading potential. Having this website and publishing my research allow me to have bigger impact on more people. I guess it is a natural extension to what I like to do.