On 26/04/2013 23:28, Nick Khamis wrote: > On 4/26/13, Alan McKinnon <alan.mckin...@gmail.com> wrote: >> On 26/04/2013 19:11, Nick Khamis wrote: >>>>>>> Thank you so much for your response, and I totally understand the >>>>>>> effort vs. benefit challenge. However, is it really that much >>>>>>> trouble/unstable to setup our own ntp >>>>>>> server that syncs with our local isp, and have our internal network >>>>>>> sync >>>>>>> on it? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> No, it's not THAT much effort. You can get by with installing ntpd on >>>>> a >>>>> single machine, pointing it at the upstream time server and pointing >>>>> all >>>>> your clients to it. It's clearly recorded in the config file, you >>>>> can't >>>>> go wrong. >>>>> >>>>> It's understanding how this weird thing called time works that is the >>>>> issue. Take for example leap seconds..... urggggggggggg... >>>>> >>>>> The basic question I suppose is why do you want to do it this way? >>>>> What >>>>> do you feel you will gain by doing it yourself? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Alan McKinnon >>>>> alan.mckin...@gmail.com >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>> Hello Alan, >>> >>> Thank you so much for your time. Our voip cluster time always vary for >>> some reason.... >>> And with long distance, that could mean upwards to a dollar a call. >> >> >> Ah, OK. That changes things quite a bit. I have a little bit of >> experience with that - I work for a large ISP, we have a large VOIP >> department and we run a stratum 2 time server that serves most of the >> country. >> >> First things first: you can't just stick any old upstream ntp server in >> your config and walk away. You are then reliant on the quality of that >> upstream, and far too often other time servers operate on a "good >> enough" policy - if it's accurate to about a second, it's good enough >> (and for desktop users i.e. most ISP clients, it is good enough). >> >> I don't know how big your operation is, if you have budget I suggest you >> invest in a proper master time source that is GPS-driven. We have a >> Symmetricom (http://www.symmetricom.com) but it's a mature market with >> several vendors. Shop around, prices are less than you'd expect (about >> the same as a decent mid-range server and much less than Cisco's >> routers...) >> >> Weather can get in the way, so back up the device with a decent second >> upstream. I have a good one available run by the Science and Technology >> Research part of the Dept of Trade and Industry and the third option is >> all the other big ISPs around. >> >> Depending on your accuracy needs you could get away without the GPS unit >> and just use a good upstream, but I'd fight for the budget for it - tell >> management it puts control of billing back in your hands, they always >> fall for that one :-) >> >> So the summary would be that I reckon ntpd will do what you want as long >> as you chose good reliable time sources. With that in hand, the config >> is easy as rather well documented. Shout here ont he list if you need a >> hand with this when you come to deployment time >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Alan McKinnon >> alan.mckin...@gmail.com >> >> >> > > Any suggestions for a "reliable", use that word cautiously ntp server. > Requests are coming from canada. Was there not a project that dealt > with setting up a network across the globe just for serving up NTP > services? Did that marvelous idea die out?
Isn't that what pool.ntp.org does? As for reliable, I'm not familiar with how Canada has set itself up, but most Western governments have a "Science and Technology" department or NGO and most run time servers to serve the local scientific community. They might not let you sync to their server (stratum 1 providers are touchy) but someone will sync to it, and they in turn may provide a free time service. Start by Googling "stratum 1 time server Canada" and see where that takes you. Really, this stuff isn't hard and you will be up and running in no time. The hard part is when *you* provide a public service and need to pay attention to the insane amount of detail inherent in this subject. -- Alan McKinnon alan.mckin...@gmail.com
