Source: https://databento.com/docs/architecture/performance-optimization


# Performance optimization

### Locations

**What's DC3?**

DC3 refers to the legacy name of the CME data center and the primary colocation site
for its matching engine, Aurora DC3, before it was acquired by CyrusOne and renamed
Aurora I. Since we have some data predating this acquisition, we still use this site
name for naming consistency.

**Where are DC3, NY4, and NY5 located?**

DC3 is located at 2905 Diehl Road, Aurora, IL 60502. NY4 and NY5 are located at 755
and 800 Secaucus Rd, Secaucus NJ 07094 respectively.

### Setup

**Do I need to install or license any special software to make use of dedicated
connectivity?**

No, you do not require any special software. Databento's Raw API and official Python,
C++ and Rust client libraries support dedicated connectivity. Our live data offering is
a managed service, meaning you don't have to run our software as a process on your
machine.

**Do I need any network configuration to make use of dedicated connectivity?**

We'll assist you in configuring network routes to our gateways depending on the option
that you pick. For cross-connects and colocation, you'll pass in a private IP to take
a dedicated route. For dedicated interconnects, you'll rely on BGP to select the
shortest path.

### Performance

**Does latency matter for my use case? If so, is Databento fast enough?**

Most electronic trading participants do not see an appreciable benefit from going
below 50 us or even 1 ms, so our dedicated connectivity options and normalized feed
performance should be more than adequate for most of our users.

If you need even lower latency, there are specialized solutions tailored to your use
case. However, to our knowledge, the next fastest solution will cost at least thrice
the cost. This is intentional: Databento is designed to be at the pareto-frontier
between latency and cost, i.e. each of our dedicated connectivity options is the
fastest commercially-available solution at its price point.

Being on the sweet spot between latency and pricing puts us in a position to solve
many issues. For instance, Databento is great for initial exploration in cases where
you have a catch-22 of being unable to quantify if you need lower latency until you
start trading. Also, through us, users with cloud-based infrastructure can achieve
comparable performance to colocated, bare metal infrastructure at a fraction of the
cost.

**Why does Databento Live use TCP for transport? Don't trading venues use UDP for raw
feeds? Isn't TCP slower than UDP?**

At this time, we're only supporting TCP so that all of our customers get reliable
transmission and congestion control without additional complexity in the client
implementation.

On a side note, TCP is potentially faster than UDP for customers who're connecting to
us over long-haul, and we've made considerable efforts to optimize our Raw API and
measure its performance.

Raw financial feeds often use UDP multicast because of its simplicity and potential
for latency optimization on networks with excess bandwidth, as in the case when you
have a direct connection to the trading venue's extranet. However, TCP is more
efficient in environments with limited bandwidth, network congestion, and a large
proportion of small messages--because the TCP protocol allows for buffering of the
data messages to fill a full network segment. In fact, some popular ECNs and OTC
trading venues have to support customers connecting over the internet and have
TCP-based feeds as their primary, raw data feed.

**Do you lease out server hardware to your customers?**

We only lease out hardware to customers who colocate with us directly.

### Hardware

**Do you offer VMs or virtual private servers (VPSes)?**

We don't currently offer VMs or VPSes.

**Do you have a recommended server spec?**

Databento has very low minimum system requirements, so the hardware specification will
depend more on your application and we do not have any hard recommendations. Most of
our customers have servers with a dedicated NIC from AMD, Mellanox, or Intel.

### Fees and terms

**Do you charge all of the fees listed, including for services not provided directly
by Databento?**

We only charge the fees with Databento listed in the "Paid to" column. Other listed
fees are estimates and payable to the provider.

**What's the term length for any of these dedicated connectivity options?**

We require a 12-month contract.