Security Management

hi all i m confused between ntp boot server and ntp server... if i m using ntp boot server to get time from a server,,, then is not it good enough??? do i need still another device to sync time with.... what if i dont use any ntp sync server??? or what if i only use ntp server to sync time with and no boot server,,, does that mean i dont get time at boot time,, but later on , the ntp server will keep giving me synced time???? infact when i tried on a site of mine with only ntp boot server,,, i did not find any change it time of my machine after reboot???however after adding ntp server ,, the time of my device then got synced with the server??? plz explain...........i m confused

Hi,

 

Just a quick note behind NTP theory,

 

NTP  Servers / NTP Sync Servers are used to synchronize the device's system time with a reference time source.

These reference time sources are very precision Atomic clocks and called "Stratum 0" in NTP terminology.

The network devices have inexpensive less accurate clocks which may deviate from these reference clocks after some period of time, even though we set it correctly.

 

Stratum 1 NTP servers will get the reference time from Stratum 0 and Startum 2 will get from Startum 1...

 

When we configure NTP Syn server in our devices, whenever the device's system clock deviates from the actual time, It uses NTP servers synchronisation to correct the time offset.

 

This offset should be small, otherwise the device will not accept the NTP server's update.

Example, if the device is having 5.00 AM and the actual NTP time is 10.00 AM, then it won't sync with NTP, believing that something wrong with the time.

 

Therefore, when a device boots, the time should be atleast close to the NTP server time. In other words, the offset should be minimum, so that the synchronisation can occur.

 

NTP Boot Server does this job by giving the correct time when a  device boots.

 

Answering your questions directly

 

if i m using ntp boot server to get time from a server,,, then is not it good enough???

do i need still another device to sync time with.... what if i dont use any ntp sync server???

 

Initial time will be correct, but over the period of time, the device time will deviate from global time reference source.

 

 

what if i only use ntp server to sync time with and no boot server,,, does that mean i dont get time at boot time,, but later on , the ntp server will keep giving me synced time????

 

If your device time offset is large, it won't be able to Sync with NTP server. So your time will be wrong.

 

Boot server and NTP Sync server should work properly, if you have configured correctly.

 

Hope this explains.

 

Regards

Moses N

 

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thnx moses N.... ur reply explains everything to me so welll... thnx for ur nice reply,,, and taking time for such a detailed reply

Thanks Moss 🙂

Your answers clears my query too 🙂

Thank mosesnehru,
Your answer is very helpful for me.

------------------------------
Harry
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-22-2012 06:35
From: Moses Nagarajah
Subject: NTP-difference between ntp boot server and ntp server

Hi,

 

Just a quick note behind NTP theory,

 

NTP  Servers / NTP Sync Servers are used to synchronize the device's system time with a reference time source.

These reference time sources are very precision Atomic clocks and called "Stratum 0" in NTP terminology.

The network devices have inexpensive less accurate clocks which may deviate from these reference clocks after some period of time, even though we set it correctly.

 

Stratum 1 NTP servers will get the reference time from Stratum 0 and Startum 2 will get from Startum 1...

 

When we configure NTP Syn server in our devices, whenever the device's system clock deviates from the actual time, It uses NTP servers synchronisation to correct the time offset.

 

This offset should be small, otherwise the device will not accept the NTP server's update.

Example, if the device is having 5.00 AM and the actual NTP time is 10.00 AM, then it won't sync with NTP, believing that something wrong with the time.

 

Therefore, when a device boots, the time should be atleast close to the NTP server time. In other words, the offset should be minimum, so that the synchronisation can occur.

 

NTP Boot Server does this job by giving the correct time when a  device boots.

 

Answering your questions directly

 

if i m using ntp boot server to get time from a server,,, then is not it good enough???

do i need still another device to sync time with.... what if i dont use any ntp sync server???

 

Initial time will be correct, but over the period of time, the device time will deviate from global time reference source.

 

 

what if i only use ntp server to sync time with and no boot server,,, does that mean i dont get time at boot time,, but later on , the ntp server will keep giving me synced time????

 

If your device time offset is large, it won't be able to Sync with NTP server. So your time will be wrong.

 

Boot server and NTP Sync server should work properly, if you have configured correctly.

 

Hope this explains.

 

Regards

Moses N

 

-------------------------------------------------------

If this post answers your question, please mark it as "Accepted Solution".
Kudos are a nice way of expressing your gratitude