eSignal consumes memory FAST

[caløjn]

Hello eSignal and others in the forum.
I have been in contact with tech. support regarding this issue a number of times, with no luck.

The thing is that eSignal consumes all available memory (16 GB) literally in minutes after launch – I have screen dumps showing the problem, but too big to attach to this thread. This happens only on the exchange opening hours, from 0930 EST and until close.
In this timeframe, when especially the emini is trading heavily, there is absolutely no response from eSignal until it finally crashes. All other times is OK – but the program can freeze if suddenly volume increase.

This is true both for the eSignal data feed using the SIM account, and the LIVE data feed I get through ZenFire from my broker.

Now – I have tried to narrow down what could be wrong – like a slow internet connection. According to wireshark, the load is less than 1 MB/sec (on a 40/4 Mbit connection).
The next thing is my computer – but honestly, can it be true, that using one symbol (ES), four timeframes and a time and sale can make my computer crash within minutes? It is not the newest, but still Quad Core with 16 GB of DDR3 memory. Newer had problems with stability.

Is anyone aware of any setting in eSignal, windows 7 (64bit) or anywhere else, that can help me solve this issue?

[eostrom]

eSignal using memory

The first thing to check would be to make sure that you are on the 64bit version of eSignal 11. This will give the program full access to the amount memory on your system. I've seen thousands of setups and I don't think I've ever seen eSignal instantly take up 16gb of memory when configured properly. There's definitly something wrong here. I will PM you some more personalized information regarding this issue. Let me know if the 64 bit version helps.

[caløjn]

My version is eSignal_11.3.2540_x64. I have all ways used the 64 bit version and all ways the latest update. If you can drop me your email, I can attach 'the evidence' in the form of a screen dump.
This has been an issue since 11.1 I think – and right now I’m waiting for the 11.4 beta to be announced. According to tech support, the 11.4 will be able to take advantage of some new services on the server side – but then again, the problem lies on my computer. I also use NinjaTrader, with the data feed from my broker, and there is absolutely no problem. But I like eSignal better; therefore I’m trying to figure out what to do.

[caløjn]

The last couple of weeks I have investigated possible reasons for this to happen.

This includes detaching all HDD and making a clean install on a very fast SSD, with only windows 7 64 bit, antivirus and eSignal – last updated version of the 64 bit version. This reviled the same pattern of memory allocation during ‘rush hour’, that seems to be almost linear – worst using tick charts, but also using ordinary timeframes like 1, 5 and 15 minutes. So I did some investigation into my hardware, looking at the motherboard (Asus P5Q3-DELUXE w. 16 GB of memory) and the CPU (Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200S @ 2.33 GHz). It seems that the set of instructions available in the processor is MMX, SSE(1, 2, 3, 3S, 4.1) and EM64T. EM64T is an (old - 2005) extension of the 32 bit instruction set, allowing the CPU to take advantage of more than 4 GB of memory, lager registers on the CPU and so on.
Now I wonder if eSignal 11.x-64 is coded to use the latest set of instructions available in the 64 bit processing units, and that some of these instructions is not fully backward compatible with EM64T making some memory pointer expand? Or that the in-memory table holding the received time and sale data, is missing the capability of flushing itself with regard to the data first received? (A function that is available in 10.6). It seems like the computer uses all its resources to allocate more memory space when data is coming in faster, and using all available clock cycles on the CPU. Last I presume that the data coming in is encrypted in some way, and that the data has to be decrypted before use. This process must also consume clock cycles. But then again, the exact same setup, using the same timeframes, almost the same studies and ZenFire data feed in NinjaTrader uses roughly 1 GB of memory at all times. So you’re right Eric – there’s definitely something wrong here. Saying this I’m quite aware of the fact, that there could be that there just is a combination of hardware that is not compatible with eSignal, and eventually I have to find a new computer.

/Torben

[eostrom]

eSignal memory

@caløjn: I have PM'd you, if you could respond it would be much appareciated. I'm confident that at the very least, we will be able to get to the bottom of what is causing this.

[eostrom]

@caløjn: I'm following up with our developers on this issue and should have some more information for you soon. I will post some general information about this issue once I have it.

[eostrom]

out of memory crashes

We were able to see and duplicate the issue here. It looks like this memory issue that a few clients are running into is something that is fixed in an upcoming version of the eSignal program. This version is currently set to be released sometime next month.