Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for generating a global system configuration for a financial market data system that include: establishing, by a configuration device, a component ruleset, the component ruleset specifying rules for component characteristics of one or more components capable of being used in financial market data systems; receiving, in the configuration device from a user through a graphical user interface, component characteristics of a specific component included in a financial market data system; storing, by the configuration device, the received component characteristics of the specific component in a global system configuration for the financial market data system; determining, by the configuration device, whether the received component characteristics satisfy the component ruleset; and supplementing, by the configuration device, the received component characteristics stored in the global system configuration with additional component characteristics in dependence upon the component ruleset if the received component characteristics do not satisfy the component ruleset.