That machine routinely processes 70, 000 orders, cancellations and trades per second but can handle up to 250, 000 per second--enough to deal with trades on the Nasdaq plus the London and Paris stock exchanges with room to spare.

FORBES: About Robert Greifeld

It seems that whenever the NYSE receives more than 20, 000 quotes per second, its CQS feed, which determines where many equity orders get routed, falls behind.

FORBES: Is Another Flash Crash Inevitable By Year's End And Will It Be Triggered On Purpose?