We are using TradeStation 10 and have several accounts with TradeStation Securities in the US. Does anyone know of a way we can trade multiple accounts on one platform?

I know we can with sub accounts (we have a professional account with one sub account), but we have both professional and personal accounts we are trading. I would like to keep just one PC (or virtual machine, to be precise), running all of our automated strategies.

Or alternatively, can we have multiple instances of TradeStation running on a single PC?

Any help or guidance is appreciated.

I believe @kevinkdog has traded multiple accounts in one Tradestation instance.

SMCJB 

I believe @kevinkdog has traded multiple accounts in one Tradestation instance.

I have traded as many as 5 accounts in one instance of Tradestation at one time. But @vmodus's case might be different, because of professional accounts and personal accounts.

You might need another instance of TS running, which then involves more data fees, etc.

Try to automate a strategy, and in the account number box, see which accounts you can access. That will tell you how they have it set up.

I will also add that margin requirements are on an account level, not an overall issue. So if you are short ES in one account, and long ES in another, then you'll need margin for each (when in reality you are flat!).

A possibility [not sure] is to get a server and remotely connect to operate all accounts from a single machine – try asking here see link bellow (im not affiliated w/them)
https://www.steadfast.net/chicago-managed-trading-servers

also this VM may be the answer
https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-pro.html

kevinkdog 

I have traded as many as 5 accounts in one instance of Tradestation at one time. But @vmodus's case might be different, because of professional accounts and personal accounts. You might need another instance of TS running, which then involves more data fees, etc. Try to automate a strategy, and in the account number box, see which accounts you can access. That will tell you how they have it set up. I will also add that margin requirements are on an account level, not an overall issue. So if you are short ES in one account, and long ES in another, then you'll need margin for each (when in reality you are flat!).

Thanks! We do that with our main and sub account now.

I have a related question: Are you paying data fees only once, or for each account? We are having to pay for our main account and then our sub account. I am wondering if there is a way to just pay the fees once.

ahrink 

A possibility [not sure] is to get a server and remotely connect to operate all accounts from a single machine – try asking here see link bellow (im not affiliated w/them) https://www.steadfast.net/chicago-managed-trading-servers also this VM may be the answer https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-pro.html

Thanks. We just deployed a VM a couple weeks ago and are running our strategies live on that, to mitigate power and internet outages we may have in our office. It is working well.

vmodus 

I have a related question: Are you paying data fees only once, or for each account? We are having to pay for our main account and then our sub account. I am wondering if there is a way to just pay the fees once.

I believe the 'legal definition' is 'per user, per device'. Not being the lawyer I would think that one user, multiple accounts, and on one device counts as one user on one device. Hence one data fee

vmodus 

Thanks! We do that with our main and sub account now. I have a related question: Are you paying data fees only once, or for each account? We are having to pay for our main account and then our sub account. I am wondering if there is a way to just pay the fees once.

How many platform logins do you have? I thought you need data for each platform you use, not for each account or a master/sub.

I'll only ever paid for one data fee. My 2nd login is for development, so I run delayed data on that.

SMCJB 

I believe the 'legal definition' is 'per user, per device'. Not being the lawyer I would think that one user, multiple accounts, and on one device counts as one user on one device. Hence one data fee

Thanks. I know this applies to the platform, but I don't know if it applies to data. In other words, is there a 1:1 relationship platform:data feed.

I think @kevinkdog 's response is the answer. We are just trying to work out our topography here without paying a ton of $$ in data fees. Diversification can get expensive

kevinkdog 

How many platform logins do you have? I thought you need data for each platform you use, not for each account or a master/sub. I'll only ever paid for one data fee. My 2nd login is for development, so I run delayed data on that.

We have two logins. I think we have worked it out.

Live trading:
We will trade both main and sub account from the VM, with the data we need, on the main TradeStation login .

Development/Testing:
We will use the second login (and probably a third, since there are two of us here), with delayed data, for development, test, optimization, et al.

Thanks @SMCJB and @kevinkdog for helping us puzzle this out. This will save a buttload in data fees.