I see this story play out every month: I run a backtest on Monday, deploy the algo on my laptop on Tuesday, and on Wednesday... the power goes out. My internet fluctuates. Windows decides to auto-update and restart.

If you are trading with real money, your laptop is a liability. Your algo needs a home that is stable, fast, and always on. Enter the Virtual Private Server (VPS).

Why the Cloud?

• 99.99% Uptime: Cloud providers like AWS and DigitalOcean have redundant power and internet connections. They don't go offline.
• Proximity to Exchange: Your home internet in Bangalore has to travel miles of copper and fiber to reach the NSE servers in Mumbai. AWS Mumbai (ap-south-1) is physically located just kilometers away from the exchange. This reduces your "ping" (latency) drastically.
• Static IP: As discussed in our Regulatory Update, SEBI now mandates Static IPs. Cloud servers come with one by default.

Choosing Your Provider

1. AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Pros: Market leader, "Free Tier" for 12 months (t2.micro), extensive tools like EC2 and RDS.
Cons: Complex UI, steep learning curve.

2. DigitalOcean

Pros: Extremely simple, predictable pricing ($4/month), great for beginners.
Cons: Fewer enterprise features than AWS.

3. Trading-Specific VPS

Pros: Comes pre-installed with algo software, sometimes cross-connected to broker servers.
Cons: Often overpriced compared to raw cloud compute.

The Migration Checklist

Moving your Python scripts to the cloud isn't just "copy-paste." You need to run your script as a Daemon or Service (like Systemd in Linux) so it auto-restarts if it crashes.

You also need to secure your server. Buying a VPS means you are exposing a computer to the public internet. If you don't configure your Firewall (UFW) and SSH keys correctly, you will get hacked.