NinjaTrader Strategy Analyzer on a VPS: Set Up a Repeatable Backtest

Open New > Strategy Analyzer inside NinjaTrader Desktop on your Ninja Mobile Trader VPS to run a historical NinjaScript backtest. Our hosted Windows desktop keeps the platform, historical data and saved analysis in one workspace you can reach from a PC, Mac or mobile device. Windows licensing is included, with 24/7 VPS support.

For strategy research, that means you can return to the same setup without rebuilding it on whichever device you use next. The illustration above represents that hosted workflow; it is not a NinjaTrader screenshot or a test result.

Start with one defined historical test#

NinjaTrader’s Strategy Analyzer evaluates NinjaScript strategies against historical data. It is different from Market Replay, where you play a recorded session through the platform, and from enabling Tick Replay calculations on a chart.

Before the first run, confirm the required strategy and historical data are available inside the VPS installation. Then follow the platform’s backtest procedure:

1. Open New > Strategy Analyzer from the Control Center.
2. Choose Backtest and select the intended strategy.
3. Set its parameters, instrument and data series.
4. Choose the date range and trading-hours template, then review commissions and fill assumptions.
5. Select Run.

Start with one instrument and a bounded date range so you can check the setup before launching larger research jobs. By default, Analyzer can download history from the connected provider. Use Local Data Only, under Analyzer’s right-click Properties, uses data already stored in the database; it does not supply missing history.

Keep a record that makes comparisons meaningful#

Use this worksheet before changing a parameter. A result is difficult to interpret when several inputs changed unnoticed.

This is a blank research checklist, not a claim that a strategy or server has been benchmarked.

Choose fill resolution deliberately#

NinjaTrader’s historical fill guide distinguishes Standard, which works from the test bars, from High, which loads a more granular series for simulated fills. More granular data adds processing work; it does not turn a historical result into live execution.

High fill resolution has restrictions with multi-time-frame/multi-instrument strategies and Tick Replay. Check the platform’s documented approach for those strategies instead of selecting the most detailed setting automatically.

Backtests and real-time execution use different fill models. NinjaTrader documents those real-time versus backtest differences; use historical testing to compare defined assumptions, not to promise future fills or returns.

Save settings and keep the comparison trail#

Use template > Save in the settings area to preserve a strategy’s parameter configuration; Load retrieves a saved configuration. NinjaTrader’s parameter-template guide explains how selected optimization parameters are saved too.

For results, right-click Analyzer and choose Show Logs. The backtest log records each run, lets you add notes and pin a useful reference, and can restore a prior test’s settings. Code snapshots apply to open, unlocked NinjaScript strategies; vendor-protected strategies do not expose that code history.

Keep a separate NinjaTrader backup for recovery. Saving results in a hosted workspace and keeping a recoverable backup solve different needs.

Match research capacity to the workload#

NMT offers published CPU, memory and storage tiers, including a Pro Dedicated Server described for CPU-intensive algorithms and strategy optimizations. Compare the whole workload—historical data, strategies, charts and any other running software—using our NinjaTrader resource-sizing guide.

Run demanding research during a planned non-trading window or on a separate research server when it would compete with active execution. Check CPU and memory inside the VPS while the actual test runs; the phone or laptop displaying the desktop is not the machine doing the analysis.