Bare Metal Trading Server in London: Inside Equinix LD4 and LD7
A MassiveGRID bare-metal trading server is a Dell PowerEdge machine installed inside the Equinix London campus in Slough, in the LD4 or LD7 building, the campus where FxPro, Admirals, Darwinex, ThinkMarkets, BlackBull and IC Markets' cTrader keep their trade servers. Brokers with infrastructure in London are under 1 ms away. There is no hypervisor and no other tenant: every core, every byte of memory and the whole 10 Gbit network port belong to one customer, and the six configurations were picked on clock speed first, from 4.0 GHz base on the scalping box to a 5.6 GHz turbo on the desk workhorse. They run from a quad core at $423 per month to a 24-core AMD EPYC at $4,615 per month, with the Windows Server licence included and memory and storage built to order. Servers are quoted and provisioned by our sales team.
What a server inside Equinix London gives a trading desk
A VPS in London is under 10 ms from the brokers hosted in Slough. A server inside the same campus is under 1 ms, with nothing virtual between your terminals and the silicon.
Inside the brokers' campus
The Equinix LD4, LD5 and LD7 buildings in Slough hold more retail forex infrastructure than anywhere else in Europe. Your server sits in LD4 or LD7, in the same campus as the brokers that publish those sites.
Under 1 ms to London brokers
Brokers with infrastructure in London are under 1 ms from the server. That is the figure a scalping or news EA actually trades on, and it is an order of magnitude below the London VPS.
No hypervisor, no neighbour
Real bare metal with no virtualisation layer. Every core, all the memory and the entire network port are yours, so tick-to-order time has no scheduler jitter in it at all.
Windows Server licence included
Each configuration is quoted with the Windows Server licence included, or with Linux if you prefer. Memory and storage, including NVMe on the AMD platforms, are built to your order.
Clock speed first
A MetaTrader terminal runs each chart on one thread, so the six were picked on clock before cores: 4.0 GHz base on the scalping box, 5.6 GHz turbo on the desk workhorse, 4.1 GHz base across 24 EPYC cores on the institutional build.
A 10 Gbit port of your own
Every server has a 10 Gbit public and private network port that no other tenant shares, with a dedicated IP address, so a burst of ticks from twenty terminals never queues behind someone else's traffic.
The six configurations
From a range of more than sixty bare-metal builds in LD4 and LD7 we picked these six for trading. Model names encode the core count and base clock, so TS8-3.2 is eight cores at 3.2 GHz; to order any of them, use the quote link in its row or at the end of its description. The order of merit is clock speed first, because a MetaTrader terminal runs each chart on one thread and a tick-driven EA is bounded by single-core speed, then core count, memory and NVMe for desks and research. Prices are monthly, in US dollars, for the base configuration with the Windows Server licence included; larger memory and NVMe builds are quoted on request.
| Model | CPU | Base / turbo clock | Cores | Memory and storage | Best for | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TS4-3.1 | Intel Xeon E-2324G on Dell PowerEdge Gen15 | 3.1 / 4.6 GHz | 4 cores / 4 threads | 32 GB (customisable), SSD or NVMe to order | First bare-metal server: two to six MetaTrader terminals, swing and trend EAs, a copier | $423/mo Request a quote |
| TS4-4.0 | Intel Xeon E-2274G on Dell PowerEdge R340 (Gen14) | 4.0 / 4.9 GHz | 4 cores / 4 threads | 16 GB (customisable; 32 GB recommended), SSD or NVMe to order | Scalping and news EAs where single-thread speed is everything: the highest base clock in the range | $704/mo Request a quote |
| TS8-3.2 | Intel Xeon E-2488 on Dell PowerEdge R360 (Gen16) | 3.2 / 5.6 GHz | 8 cores / 16 threads | 32 GB (customisable), SSD or NVMe to order | Multi-terminal desks and prop traders: 10 to 20 terminals, copiers, indicator-heavy templates on the newest generation | $776/mo Request a quote |
| TS24-3.3 | 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6246 on Dell PowerEdge Gen14, dual socket | 3.3 / 4.2 GHz | 24 cores / 48 threads | 64 GB (customisable), SSD or NVMe to order | Backtesting and optimisation beside live trading: 48 MT5 tester agents at a high clock, with cores to spare for the terminals | $1,093/mo Request a quote |
| TS16-3.5 | AMD EPYC 7F52 on Dell PowerEdge R6515 | 3.5 / 3.9 GHz | 16 cores / 32 threads | 64 GB (customisable), NVMe or SSD to order | Fund and signal-provider desks: dozens of client terminals, tick databases and Python research on NVMe | $1,947/mo Request a quote |
| TS24-4.1 | AMD EPYC 9275F on Dell PowerEdge R7715 (EPYC 9005) | 4.1 / 4.8 GHz | 24 cores / 48 threads | 64 GB (customisable), NVMe only | Institutional and quant desks that want the fastest cores available and many of them: live trading, optimisation and machine-learning research on one box | $4,615/mo Request a quote |
Which one for which desk
- TS4-3.1, the first bare-metal server. A current-generation quad core with 32 GB for traders who have outgrown a VPS, run two to six terminals and want the whole machine inside the campus. Its 3.1 GHz base clock is the lowest of the six, so scalpers should look one row down. Request a quote for the TS4-3.1.
- TS4-4.0, the scalping box. The E-2274G has the highest base clock of the six at 4.0 GHz and turbos to 4.9 GHz, which is what a tick-driven EA actually uses. Four threads limit it to a handful of terminals; take it with 32 GB. Request a quote for the TS4-4.0.
- TS8-3.2, the desk workhorse. Eight cores and sixteen threads on the newest Intel generation, with a 5.6 GHz turbo, run 10 to 20 terminals with copiers and heavy templates and still leave headroom for an optimisation. For most prop traders and small funds this is the one. Request a quote for the TS8-3.2.
- TS24-3.3, the backtesting machine. Two Gold 6246 processors give 48 threads at 3.3 GHz base, so the MT5 Strategy Tester runs 40-odd agents while the live terminals keep the rest, on one server. The dual-socket layout suits throughput more than a single-thread sprint; pair it with the TS4-4.0 if you also scalp. Request a quote for the TS24-3.3.
- TS16-3.5, the fund desk. AMD's frequency-optimised 16-core EPYC with 64 GB and NVMe for desks that run dozens of client accounts, keep tick databases and run Python research alongside the terminals. Request a quote for the TS16-3.5.
- TS24-4.1, the institutional choice. The EPYC 9275F pairs the fastest base clock of the six, 4.1 GHz, with 24 cores and NVMe-only storage. Live trading, optimisation and machine-learning research on one machine, for desks where the server budget is small next to the capital it protects. Request a quote for the TS24-4.1.
Every configuration comes with a 10 Gbit public and private network port of its own, a dedicated IP address, and memory and storage built to order. If none of the six fits, tell us the terminal count and the strategy and we will quote from the full range.
Bare metal, Forex VPS Pro or Forex VPS?
The three products share the same support team and the same honesty about latency; they differ in what sits between your terminals and the hardware, where the machine is, and what happens when hardware fails.
| Bare metal in Equinix London | Forex VPS Pro | Forex VPS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A whole Dell PowerEdge server, no hypervisor | A VM with cores reserved for you | A VM on shared cores |
| Where | Inside Equinix LD4 or LD7, Slough | New York, London, Frankfurt, Singapore | New York, London, Frankfurt, Singapore |
| Latency to brokers with infrastructure in London | <1 ms | <10 ms | <10 ms |
| Failover if hardware fails | None; one physical machine | Automatic restart on another node | Automatic restart on another node |
| Windows Server licence | Included | Included | Not mentioned |
| Network | 10 Gbit public and private, yours alone | 10 Gbps port | Standard |
| Ordering | Quote from sales, provisioned to order | Online, instant | Online, instant |
| Guarantee | Terms set in the quote | 15-day money-back | 15-day money-back |
| From | $423/mo | $9.73/mo | $2.87/mo |
A plain rule: if your broker is hosted in London and your strategy is measured in milliseconds, or your desk runs more terminals than a VM comfortably holds, take the bare metal. If you want failover and a 15-day guarantee, or your broker is in New York, Frankfurt or Singapore, take Forex VPS Pro or the Forex VPS. Desks that need both speed and resilience usually keep a Pro VPS in London as a warm standby beside the bare-metal server; the London Forex VPS page lists the brokers that publish the campus.
Which brokers publish the Equinix London campus
From the brokers' own websites and help centres, checked in October 2026: FxPro, Admirals, Darwinex and ThinkMarkets name Equinix LD4; BlackBull Markets and IC Markets' cTrader servers name LD5; FP Markets names an NY4/LD4 cluster; Vantage names London as a primary hub; Octa and JustMarkets name London. Sources are listed in our broker matcher. A broker in LD4 or LD5 is in the same campus as a server in LD4 or LD7; confirm the building with your broker and ask us for the matching one.
How ordering works
- Contact our sales team with the model, the memory and storage you want, the operating system, and whether you need LD4 or LD7.
- We confirm availability and quote the configuration. The Windows Server licence is included in the price.
- The server is provisioned with your operating system, and you receive the access details and a dedicated IP address.
- Install your terminals one folder per account as on any Windows server; the MT4 and MT5 pages cover sizing and setup, and our team helps with the first install.
Two honest notes. Bare metal is one physical machine: it does not restart on another node when hardware fails the way the Forex VPS tiers do on the HA cluster, so keep a standby if the strategy cannot be offline. And the prices above are for the base configurations; bare-metal terms, including cancellation, are set in the quote rather than by the 15-day guarantee that covers the VPS tiers.
Set up, tune and compare before you buy
Best Forex VPS in London: Proximity to LD4 and UK Brokers
Why LD4 matters, which UK brokers sit there, and how to measure the ping from your own terminal.
ChoosingDedicated vs Shared Forex VPS
Why resource isolation matters when markets get volatile, with worked examples.
HFTChoosing a Forex VPS for High-Frequency Trading
What a latency-sensitive strategy needs from CPU, network and location.
LatencyHow Latency Affects Forex Trade Execution
What network latency does to fills and slippage, and how to measure and cut it.
ScalingRunning Multiple EAs and Accounts on One Server
How to size a server for several terminals and keep them from starving each other.
Prop firmsVPS for Prop Firm Challenges: Eight Firms' Rules Compared
Which firms allow a server nobody else shares, and on what conditions.
Compare the VPS tiers on the Forex VPS page and the reserved-core tier on the forex dedicated server page.
Bare-metal trading server questions
Put your desk inside the Equinix London campus
Six Dell PowerEdge configurations inside Equinix LD4 and LD7, under 1 ms from brokers with infrastructure in London, each with its own 10 Gbit port and the Windows Server licence included, from $423 per month. Tell us the model and your terminal count and we quote the build.