Abstract: A system for processing transactions and a methodology for the design of such a system for enhanced transaction processing across different computing platforms. Transaction orders and transaction data are transferred and stored within the system in a standard, hardware independent format. Data generated as part of a transaction is stored in a circular queue; orders are stored so that they can be accessed by their order number or other key attribute.Nonvolatile memory is used extensively to increase system reliability and data integrity by reducing the chances of data loss due to a system shutdown. Data is stored to nonvolatile memory before pointers to the data are modified to eliminate problems due to pointers pointing to nonexistent data.