Multi-Machine Setup

For advanced setups, you can run OptionsRealTime Dashboards and Excel spreadsheets on any machine on the network. This is useful for:

• Dedicated trading workstations
• Multiple monitors across machines
• Separating broker connection from analysis

Dashboards connect to single accounts. Excel sheets connect to all accounts. We can launch as many Dashboards and as many Excel sheets and instances of the Excel application on a machine (given memory and CPU processing limits).

Basic Multi-Machine Architecture

┌─────────────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────────────┐
│   Machine A             │  │   Machine B             │  │   Machine C             │
│   (Trading Server)      │  │   (Workstation)         │  │   (Workstation)         │
│                         │  │                         │  │                         │
│   TWS Desktop           │  │   OptionsRealTime       │  │   OptionsRealTime       │
│   NATS Server           │  │   Excel                 │  │   Excel                 │  ...
│   Rover                 │  │   (multi-instance)      │  │   (multi-instance)      │
│   OptionsRealTime       |  │   (multi-monitor)       │  │   (multi-monitor)       │
│   Excel                 │  │                         │  │                         │
│   (multi-instance)      │  │                         │  │                         │
│   (multi-monitor)       │  │                         │  │                         │
└───────────┬─────────────┘  └───────────┬─────────────┘  └───────────┬─────────────┘
            │                            │                            │
            └────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┘───────── ...
                                  LAN Connection

Run as many OptionsRealTime Dashboards and spreadsheets as you need on any machine: multiple views, multiple accounts, multiple monitors.

Step 1: Reconfigure NATS for Network Access

By default, NATS only listens on localhost (127.0.0.1). To allow remote connections, you need to change it to 0.0.0.0.

If NATS is Running as a Service

If you previously installed NATS as a service, you must remove it first:

1. Open Services (Win + R, type services.msc)
2. Find NATS Server, right-click and select Stop
3. Open the OptionsRealTime → Advanced folder on your desktop
4. Right-click Remove NATS Service and select Run as administrator

Edit the NATS Configuration

1. Open the OptionsRealTime → Advanced folder
2. Double-click Edit NATS Config
3. Change host from 127.0.0.1 to 0.0.0.0:

host: 0.0.0.0
port: 4222
http: 0.0.0.0:8222
max_payload: 67000000

jetstream {
  store_dir: "C:/Users/<username>/AppData/Local/OptionsRealTime/jetstream"
  max_memory_store: 1GB
  max_file_store: 50GB
  sync_interval: "2m"
}

4. Save the file

Note

The store_dir path is generated automatically during installation with your actual username. Don’t change it unless you know what you’re doing.

Reinstall NATS Service (Optional)

If you want NATS to run as a service with the new configuration:

1. Right-click Install NATS Service and select Run as administrator

Or start NATS manually by double-clicking Start NATS.

Security

Binding to 0.0.0.0 exposes NATS on your local network. Only use this on a trusted private network (like your home network). NATS will not be accessible from the internet unless you explicitly configure your router to forward port 4222 — which you should not do.

Step 2: Configure Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall blocks incoming connections by default. You need to allow NATS traffic from other machines on your network.

What this does

These commands only affect your local private network (like your home Wi-Fi). They do not expose anything to the internet. Your router’s firewall still protects you from external access.

Open PowerShell as Administrator

1. Click the Start button (Windows icon in the taskbar)
2. Type PowerShell
3. Right-click Windows PowerShell and select Run as administrator
4. Click Yes when prompted

You’ll see a blue window with a command prompt.

Remove Any Existing Block Rules

When Windows first detects NATS trying to accept connections, it sometimes creates “block” rules — especially if you clicked “Cancel” or “Block” on a Windows Security popup. These block rules override any allow rules, so we need to remove them first.

Copy and paste this command into PowerShell and press Enter:

Get-NetFirewallRule | Where-Object { ($_.DisplayName -like "*nats*") -and ($_.Action -eq "Block") } | Remove-NetFirewallRule

What this does: Finds and removes any firewall rules that are blocking NATS. If there are no block rules, it does nothing — that’s fine.

You won’t see any output if it succeeds. That’s normal.

Add the Allow Rule

Now add a rule that allows NATS connections on your private network. Copy and paste this command and press Enter:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "NATS Server" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 4222 -Action Allow -Profile Private

What this does: Creates a firewall rule that allows incoming connections on port 4222, but only from devices on your private network (like other computers on your home Wi-Fi). It does not allow connections from the internet.

You’ll see output showing the rule was created with Enabled: True and Action: Allow.

Verify the Rule (Optional)

To confirm the rule exists:

Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "NATS Server"

You should see Enabled: True and Action: Allow.

Step 3: Configure Remote Machines

On remote machines (Machine B, C, etc.), you only need to run the OptionsRealTime UI — not NATS, not Rover. Those stay on Machine A.

Important: One NATS Server

There is only one NATS server in your setup, running on Machine A. Remote machines connect to it over the network. Do not install or run NATS on remote workstations.

Finding Machine A’s IP Address

On Machine A, open a Command Prompt and type ipconfig. Look for IPv4 Address under your network adapter — it will look like 192.168.1.xxx or 10.0.0.xxx.

Configure the OptionsRealTime UI

1. Open the OptionsRealTime → Advanced folder on your desktop
2. Double-click Edit UI Config
3. Change natsServerURL from localhost to Machine A’s IP address:

{
  "natsServerURL": "nats://192.168.1.100:4222",
  ...
}

4. Save the file and restart OptionsRealTime

Configure Excel RTD (if using Excel on remote machines)

If you want to use the Excel RTD add-in on a remote machine:

1. Open the OptionsRealTime → Advanced folder on your desktop
2. Double-click Edit Excel RTD Config
3. Change NatsUrl from localhost to Machine A’s IP address:

[Addin]
LogLevel="trace"
LogPopupLevel="error"
DateFormats=["%Y-%m-%d", "%Y%b%d"]

[OptionsRealTime]
NatsUrl="nats://192.168.1.100:4222"
RtdThrottleMs=250
MaskSize=4

4. Save the file
5. If Excel is open, close and reopen it for changes to take effect

Step 4: Test the Connection

1. Ensure NATS is running on Machine A
2. Ensure Rover is publishing on Machine A
3. Launch OptionsRealTime on Machine B
4. Verify data is streaming

Network Requirements

Port	Protocol	Purpose
4222	TCP	NATS messaging
7496	TCP	TWS API (Machine A only)

Note

TWS stays on localhost (Machine A only). Only NATS traffic crosses the network.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Remote machine can’t connect	Run both PowerShell commands above, verify host: 0.0.0.0 in nats.config
”Connection refused” error	NATS isn’t running on Machine A — start it first
No data appearing	Rover isn’t running, or natsServerURL is wrong in UI config
Commands don’t work	Make sure PowerShell is running as Administrator (Step 2)

Still not working?

Run Start NATS manually on Machine A (instead of as a service). If there’s an error, you’ll see it in the console window.

If you still have connection issues, contact support@optionsrealtime.com for assistance.

---

Advanced Distributed Architecture

OptionsRealTime is built on a true distributed architecture. Each component can run on dedicated hardware, enabling enterprise-grade trading desk deployments:

┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐       ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐
│ TWS         │  │ TWS         │  │ IBKR Gateway│       │ TWS         │  │ TWS         │  │ IBRK Gateway│
│ Machine 1   │  │ Machine 2   │  │ Machine 3   │  ...  │ Machine 4   │  │ Machine 5   │  │ Machine 6   │  ...
└──────┬──────┘  └──────┬──────┘  └──────┬──────┘       └──────┬──────┘  └──────┬──────┘  └──────┬──────┘
       │                │                │                     │                │                │
       └────────────────┼────────────────┘                     └────────────────┼────────────────┘
                        │                                                       │
                        ▼                                                       ▼
              ┌───────────────────┐                               ┌───────────────────┐
              │  Rover Server 1   │                               │  Rover Server 2   │   ...
              └─────────┬─────────┘                               └─────────┬─────────┘
                        │                                                   │
                        └───────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
                                                │
                                                ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                    NATS Cluster                                        │
│     ┌─────────┐           ┌─────────┐           ┌─────────┐                            │
│     │ NATS 1  │◄─────────►│ NATS 2  │◄─────────►│ NATS 3  │   ...                      │
│     └─────────┘           └─────────┘           └─────────┘                            │
│                    Full Mesh / High Availability                                       │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘
                                             │
             ┌───────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────┐
             │                               │                               │
             ▼                               ▼                               ▼
     ┌─────────────┐                 ┌─────────────┐                 ┌─────────────┐
     │ Workstation │                 │ Workstation │                 │ Workstation │
     │ (multi-     │                 │ (multi-     │                 │ (multi-     │   ...
     │  instance)  │                 │  instance)  │                 │  instance)  │
     └─────────────┘                 └─────────────┘                 └─────────────┘

Architecture Capabilities

• NATS can run on dedicated servers or as a high-availability cluster
• Multiple TWS/Gateway instances can run on separate machines with independent logins
• Multiple Rover servers can run on dedicated machines, each managing different sets of accounts
• Unlimited UI workstations can connect from anywhere on the network, each running multiple instances

Why This Matters

OptionsRealTime uses NATS, a messaging system used by major financial institutions for mission-critical systems. NATS supports:

• Clustering — Multiple servers with automatic failover
• JetStream — Persistent messaging with replication
• Horizontal scaling — Add servers to handle increased load

This architecture enables institutional-grade deployments: dedicated trading servers, redundant messaging, and distributed workstations across a trading floor.

Contact support@optionsrealtime.com for assistance with enterprise deployments.

What’s Next?

NATS Configuration Reference →
Complete guide to all NATS configuration options

Configuration Files Reference →
Complete guide to all configuration options