Knight Capital — Following a Failure Through the System

On 1 August 2012, a software deployment error at Knight Capital helped trigger millions of unintended stock-market orders and more than $460 million in losses. The familiar explanation begins with one server that was not updated. I think that explanation is too simple. Over a five-post series, I follow the incident through the system and share the questions it raises for me about software, controls, documentation, domain knowledge and production design.