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State-of-the-art Stratus^® ftServer^® systems power mission-critical Shanghai Stock Exchange operations into the 21st century

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), located in Shanghai's new Pudong financial district, first commenced operations in December 1990. Supervised by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the SSE is charged with the orderly functioning and development of Shanghai's stock market, now the largest bourse in the People's Republic of China.

At the SSE, brokers occupy mainly 'virtual' seats and a smaller number of 'actual' seats, with most member firms conducting transactions online. With 1,608 exchange seats and 5,700 terminals, the SSE boasts the largest trading hall in the Asia-Pacific region. Its trading system interfaces with the outside world via a satellite communications network transmitting real-time market intelligence daily to 3,000 satellite-receiving stations around China.

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Mission-critical trading center

The SSE computer system plays a mission-critical role in the exchange's day-to-day business. As investors place their buy/sell orders online via a satellite and terrestrial fiber-optic network, the SSE computer system processes and confirms the trades automatically in real time. Absolute system reliability is thus required to ensure that all transactions can be completed with nano-second accuracy. As a Stratus spokesman observed: "For a bank ATM, two hours of downtime would be an unfortunate inconvenience, but for the Shanghai Stock Exchange, a mere five minutes of outage would be a major disaster."

The information system and the SSE computerized trading system are closely integrated. Sky Net, the largest stock communications satellite network in China, and Ground Net, the SSE's DDN leased-line network, provide mutual redundancy for the transmission of vital real-time trading information from SSE brokerages to investors all over China. Overseas subscribers can also receive a relay of the same information through wire services such as Reuters and Dow Jones. Consequently, the efficient operation of the entire network and thus the SSE itself hinges on the stability of the core computer system, which in turn directly affects not only the profitability of brokers and investors, but also the service reliability and reputation of the Exchange.

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Stringent Evaluation

Shanghai Stock Exchange management first recognized the potential value of using Stratus servers during the early 1990s. Since then they have conducted a series of stringent evaluations of Stratus systems. In 1999, SSE purchased their first Stratus Continuum^® system and spent a year testing it. The following year, after a highly successful trial run, SSE ordered several more Stratus products to further test and evaluate their integrated performance. Today, 33 Stratus Continuum systems and two Windows^®-based Stratus ftServer 3210 systems are deployed online as the SSE computer system's front-end communications and trading system.

"The SSE people really put our systems through their paces," said a Stratus spokesman. When testing Stratus system reliability, redundant back-up components were closed down and the main system allowed to function on a stand-alone basis. While full service was maintained, the back-up systems were restarted and the main system closed down. In this way, all modules were thoroughly tested and the system's ultra-high availability verified. As the Stratus spokesman added: "In fact, Stratus fault-tolerant systems do not differentiate between 'main' and 'back-up' systems, as any of two or more mutually redundant components can function as the main system at any time."

Having passed all tests with flying colors, the SSE's Stratus systems have gone on to provide an ultra-reliable foundation for the smooth running of the exchange's trading system.

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Solid foundation, powerful system

The switch to Stratus systems was exceptionally smooth; the Stratus equipment was fully compatible with the client's existing systems. Fail-safe data processing, the fault-tolerance capabilities of the entire system, and the highest levels of uptime, 99.999% and above, provide a solid guarantee for the entire system.

In addition, the SSE's operational experience is such that system-switching time has been shortened from 30 to 40 minutes to less than one minute, which assures the exchange of a stable platform for its mission-critical operations.

The SSE is now the leading stock market in Mainland China. Its computer system can now execute 29 million orders and settle 60 million transactions per day at a speed of 8,000 transactions per second. While the SSE ranks thirteenth in the world and third in Asia, by total capitalization, its transactions rate is now the highest in the world. "With the adoption of Stratus fault-tolerant systems, the SSE is surely up there with other world-class stock exchanges," said the Stratus spokesman.

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