This list of business and technical questions is frequently updated to keep you at the latest level of information:
1. Business-related Questions
How do I join EFETnet?
Simply click on the link on the right hand side of the page to go directly to the joining instructions.
How many of my trading partners are using EFETnet?
So far, more than 40 large counterparties and 5 broker organisations exchange trade confirmations based on the EFETnet standard. Another 3 organisations have started project to implement, by the end of 2010 we expect to be supporting more than 50 counterparties and brokers.
Which products and master agreements does EFETnet cover?
Currently people are live and confirming the full range of physical forwards and options for power and gas products under EFET, GTMA, NBP, ZBT, TTF and emissions trades under IETA and EFET. The software and standards support physical indexed deals under the above agreements as well as financial swaps under the ISDA Master Agreement and other financial Master Agreements.
What about broker confirms?
Matching of broker confirmation documents including the brokerage is included so that all confirmation documentation associated with a trade can be included in 'straight through processing'.
EFETnet is high-tech. But is it reliable?
Ponton X/P, the software behind EFETnet is used by over 90 companies world-wide, from small SMEs without internal IT staff to huge organisations with thousands of document transfers per day.
What makes EFETnet different from other networking approaches?
What really makes EFETnet different is that the project is driven and organised by energy traders themself. EFET BV is fully owned by the EFET organisations. It also owns the software license to support an arbitrary number of energy traders getting on board.
Is the EFET Box software compatible with my existing technical infrastructure?
The EFET Box runs on all common Windows, Unix and Linux platforms. It works with databases such as Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, Informix, Sybase, MySQL, and others. It matches various security requirements and supports a large range of communication parameters.
How often is a release update required?
A release update will be performed ca. every 3-4 months as the software is extended for additional purposes.
What skills do my IT team members need to install and run the EFET Box?
Installation and configuration is possible within a few hours. The EFET Box uses many pre-packaged functions that help quick-start up. At the same time proof of heavy-load-capability from installation base of over 80 Ponton X/P systems.
How stable is EFETnet, how was it developed?
EFETnet underwent site tests with energy traders like RWE, Electrabel, Gaselys and Total. After passing all acceptance tests and after a 3-months parallel use, participants then switched to operational use.
What if there are any detailed question regarding the EFET Box?
Here Ponton Consulting, EFETnet's software partner provides support and advice:
Phone: +49 40 69 213 339 between 09.00 a.m. and 06.00 p.m. ME(S)T.
Email: EFETnet Helpdesk
Where can I find a complete set of Codes for the EFET Standards?
When implementing the EFET Box you will need to make use of a standard set of codes as defined in the EFET standards. All these codes can be found at www.efet.org/ecm/staticdata/ you can access this site but clicking on the link on the right of this page.
strong>What savings can I expect to make with EFETnet?
Here we suggest you use the "Savings Simulator" on this website to calculate savings based on your number of trades and costs per trade.
Who owns EFETnet and do they make a profit?
EFETnet is a non-profit making organisation. EFETnet is owned 100% by EFET. Please take a look at the participants list to view some of the members.
Is EFETnet a secure system with respect to sensitive personal and price data?
Ponton X/P, the software used as a part of the EFET Box is a B2B integration tool for message-based communication of electronic documents. Users exchange documents such as trade confirmations and many more. The underlying ebXML protocol ensures standardised exchange of encrypted, electronically signed, non-repudiatable documents.
How long does it take to install the EFETBox?
First email-based integration took pilot users only 2 hours (between RWE and Electrabel). Depending on your firewall settings and database connections, the actual installation may take some time more. However, the main delaying factos are at the organisational level.
Can I trade other commodities apart from electricity with EFETnet?
EFETnet is used for trading electricity, gas, CO2 emissions and recently also oil, coal, metals and agriculturals.
2. Technical Questions
Why does my local EFET Box+ not start the Matching process?
Maybe you have forgotten to configure the local Buyer Party of the Box. Please check if there is something different then "@YOUR_COMPANY" in the title menu.
Why does the EFET Box+ move my syntactical correct TradeConfirmation to the failed folder?
On some operating systems, e.g. Windows 2000, large XML files can be picked up by the EFET Box before they where completely written to the filesystem by the ETRM system. The best solution is here to write the XML to the filesystem using a different file extension and renaming it to "*.xml" after the complete document has been written.
We have periodical connection problems with a counter party that can be solved by restarting the Messenger. What is the reason for it?
Please check if the Counter Party is using dynamic DNS. The communication software caches the IP Adresses for resolved hostnames. There is a Java VM parameter for the time to live of the ip adresses that can be set: "-Dsun.net.inetaddr.ttl=3600" where 3600 represents the time in seconds until the IP address will be resolved from the DNS Server again.
I tried to amend a "Failed" TradeConfirmation and got a BoxResult reporting "MinorVersionInInvalidState", what does that mean?
The EFET ECM 3.0 standard specifies that TradeConfirmations can only be amended in state "PENDING" or "TIMED_OUT".
What is a Callback Listener?
A Callback Listener is a forwarding process that resides in the DMZ and routes the incoming data stream to the Messenger. All socket connections are to this Listener is always opened from inside the local network. The Messenger polls the Listener and the Listener forwards the incoming or outgoing XML Messages.
What should my backup strategy be like?
A: Back-up the Messenger and the EfetBox database regulary. You have to shutdown the EfetBox and the Messenger in order to do so.
Which Databases are supported?
Databases
- HSQL, version 1.7.2 - an open source database bundled with the distributed configuration of the EFET Box. This database system should be used for testing / evaluation purposes only. Ponton advises that for production use in the context of EFETnet one of the following database systems should be used (Systematically tested by Ponton):
- Oracle 8.1.5, 9i, 10g / Oracle Thin Driver 8.1.5.0, 9i, 10g
- MS SQL Server 2000 / JDBC Driver: JTDS 0.9.1
- Sybase ASE 11 / Sybase SybDriver 11
Also the following databases work:
- MySQL
- Informix
Which operating system are tested by Ponton?
- Wintel / Windows NT4, Service Pack 6 (Workstation or Server)
- Wintel / Windows 2003 , Server Edition
- Wintel / Windows 2000, Service Pack 2 (Workstation or Server)
- Wintel / Windows X/P Home or Professional, Service Pack 1
- Sun / Solaris 9 (Update release Apr. 2004)
Other operating systems may be supported but so far untested:
- Linux: Red Hat, Debian, SuSE
- HP/UX
- IBM AIX / RS6000
What hardware requirements are there for EFETnet?
Minimal hardware requirements:
Disk space >= 5 GByte
Memory space >= 512 MB
Processor >= Pentium or Athlon 1 GHz / Sparc RISC 400 MHz
Optimal hardware requirements:
Disk space >= 5 GByte
Memory space >= 1024 MB
Processor >= Pentium or Athlon 2 GHz / Sparc RISC 800 MHz
