IBM introduced Server Time Protocol (STP) as a replacement for the
Sysplex Timers (9037s), to move that functionality into the System z
itself and eliminate a separate hardware device. STP, an orderable
mainframe feature, helps simplify mainframe deployment. STP has a
function called ETS (External Time Source). Up until now, the only
choice for ETS is a modem dial-out mechanism to contact an external
time server in order to obtain accurate time-of-day information.
IBM has introduced NTP (Network Time Protocol) Client support for ETS on System
z9 servers.
In theory, any standard NTP server is now eligible to be the time
source for System z. In practice, you'll want to make sure that the
external time source is known and trusted to provide accurate
time-of-day information. For example, you might wish to use a device
which obtains time-of-day information from the GPS system
(government-run satellites) or from broadcast time references such as
WWV and then passes that information via NTP to your mainframe. There
are several manufacturers of such devices.
For more details on this new functionality, along with a link to a
"redpaper" with additional technical information, please visit:
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/z/pso/stp/ntp.html
Please note that System z can already act as an NTP server, with
either z/OS (and its SNTPD feature, in z/OS 1.4 and above), z/VM with the
TIMESERV daemon
on the VM download page, or Linux on z. So you can quite easily configure a unified time
source for
your enterprise.
--
DJ
V/Soft
