One of the most important tools that you need for Automated Forex Trading is a Good FOREX VPS. The rest everything else is secondary. Here I will show you how to setup your own VPS server for FOREX Trading.

Basically a VPS which you can use for Forex trading is a windows Virtual computer. Yes the same kind that you use to host websites. The only difference is that for forex trading you need a windows based hosting. Metatrader cannot be installed on a Linux server. Wish one day they come up with a version for Linux as it’s much cheaper.

Anyways, You might have seen a lot of ads for Forex VPS which are quite expensive compared to regular windows hosting. Well that’s basically because all the installation and the managing is done for you. But have you wondered, if you can do this yourself you can have a VPS for half the price or lesser. It’s not all that difficult by the way. All you need to do is find a good windows hosting service with the least of downtime and who provides you remote access. I’m sure if you do a search you can find man.

If you want an example, this is what I use. But you can find many more with a Google search.
https://vpsport.com/

I use the cheapest service out there for about $12 a month, it servers the purpose & I never had a downtime. I have about 8 metatraders running any given time, as I do a lot of testing on EA’s and copy trades etc.

Connecting to Your VPS
In order to connect to a windows VPS remotely, you need to use software named “Remote Desktop Connection” which is bundled with all versions of windows. Under windows XP it is located under: All Programs –> Accessories –> Communications

Under windows Vista it is located under : All Programs –> Accessories
after running this software you will see the following window , enter the IP or host name of your VPS into the computer filed and click on Connect.

In a few seconds a new windows box will be opened and you will have to enter the username and password which is provided by your windows VPS provider. Once you enter the login details successfully , the desktop of windows VPS will be shown to you. This will look exactly like your home windows computer desktop.

In order to install any software like Meta Trader or any other trading stations, it is exactly like how you install them on your home PC , you can run internet explorer on your VPS , download the software you need and install and use it.

While this is one way to connect to your VPS, for regular access you would need to create a shortcut on your computer to connect to it with just a click anytime.

SETTING UP YOUR VPS
Now below I will explain to you the steps one by one to setup your Windows VPS for FOREX Trading. Namely these:

Step 1: Getting your Login Details
Step 2: Setup a shortcut to access your VPS in console mode:
Step 3: Configuring VPS to login automatically after a restart
Step 4: Installing a file transfer system between your home computer & VPS
Step 4: Installing Metatrader platforms
Step 5: Configuring your Mt4 applications to restart automatically after a restart.
Step 6: Restart your VPS every Saturday or Sunday to keep it healthy & running.


Step 1: Getting your Login Details
Once you buy the hosting package you will be send a very important mail with the login credentials. Keep this safely. You will get an IP address for your VPS, eg: 204.56.74.34, an administrator username & password. You would also get a control panel link from where you setup the various aspects of hosting or maintenance.

Step 2: Setup a shortcut to access your VPS in console mode:Once you get the remote access details you should configure RAS (Remote Access Server) in the console mode. As doing it any other way is no good for our FOREX trading purpose. This way just double clicking on the icon connects you every time.

Minimize all applications so that you can see your windows computer desktop. Right click on any empty space and choose “New – Shortcut” Now you will get a popup window. In that box enter the following:

“mstsc.exe /v:204.56.74.34 /console”

Note: Replace " 204.56.74.34 " with the IP address of your windows server

Now click on next and you can give a name for the shortcut. You can name it as “MyVPS” or something like that and click on finish. I suggest you save this shortcut as you can simply paste it to any computer and access your VPS with it.

Ok now when you double click on the shortcut that you created you will see a dialog box connecting to your server. Once its connected to the server you will get the option of feeding in your username and password. Now it logs in to your virtual server.

You will see that everything looks different on your computer, that’s because it opens in full screen. Now for you to view your personal computers screen you would have to hover the mouse pointer at the top of the screen and you will see a dropdown option appearing, where in you have the option to restore or minimize your VPS.

Note: Always exit your VPS just by closing the X on the drop down and never logoff or shutdown your VPS as you will be having Multiple Metatrader applications running on it.

The rest of the steps will be explained in my next post:
To be Continued.....