As I am sure you have noticed from other replies on the list here, the idea for NTP is not to have a Stratum one device at every single POP. That would be pricey not only in equipment costs but in roof-rights cost. What many do for NTP is to have one or two Stratum 1 devices amongst your network and then distribute it to a box that would then in turn distribute down to the next layer of equipment and so on. So if you are only spending $2400 and maybe even $4800 to support NTP across your whole network, I would think that would be worth it.
-Mike On Tue, 27 Aug 2002, John Todd wrote: > > Hmm... $2400 is still in the "pricey" range to be throwing out > bunches of these across a network in wide distribution. (Pardon me > if some of you on the list snicker at my reluctance at the $2400 > price - for some of us the "new, new Econcomy" is making things like > NTP Stratum 1 clocks a luxury that The Budgeters doesn't see as > necessary, since it's an invisible engineering issue.) > > One would think that a vendor could come up with a 1u rackmount box > with a GPS and single-board computer (BSD or Linux-based) for ~$500 > total cost. Add 150% for profit and distribution costs, you're > still in the $1300 range, which is more reasonable. I suppose my > oversimplification is the reason I'm not in the hardware business. > I'd be even happier with a PCI-bus card that I could put into an old > (reasonably fast) PC and a CD-ROM with an OpenBSD distribution that > automatically did the Right Thing. There is a case to be made about > off-the-shelf PC hardware not being accurate enough to handle a true > Stratum-1 clock, and that is a valid point. However, if I can get > within .5ms, I'm happy since most of my applications don't require > anything more accurate than that. (Those of you timing T1's should > use the more expensive systems.) > > I will go out on a limb and say that a reduction in the cost of > stratum-1 servers will increase their use across the Internet. The > results of such an increase would be arguably visible, as the current > multi-layer timekeeping system seems to be more-or-less keeping > clocks correct to the point of usefulness, at least from a > layer-4-and-up standpoint. However, accuracy and self-determination > for timing are probably things that most organizations would consider > "good" by self-evidence, and the lower the price the more possible > things become to implement. Perhaps there are reasons that putting > stratum-1 clocks in many, many places is sub-optimal; I leave that > for others to illuminate. > > I know that I would like to not rely on POP-external network > connections to keep my clock sources accurate, but these prices > (while very inexpensive, compared to other stratum-1 sources I have > seen) are still outside the "put-one-in-every-POP" price. > > JT > > > > At 9:48 AM -0700 8/27/02, Mike Lyon wrote: > > > >Here is your base pricing from Truetime: > > > >NTS-150 $2395 > >NTS-200 $3595 > > > >-Mike > > > >On Tue, 27 Aug 2002, John Todd wrote: > > > >> Happen to know what the base price is for these? "Low price" is a > >> relative term when dealing with clock makers. :) > >> > >> JT > >> > >> > >> >http://www.truetime.com/index.html > >> > > >> >Not exactly "stand alone" because you have to place the antenna somwhere > >> >where it can see the GPS satellites as is the case with any any Stratum 1 > >> >NTP device. Then you have to program the IP into it and plug the ethernet > >> >into it. They are really simple to install and configure. They give you a > >> >certain amount of Coax (you can order more if need be) and you put the > >> >antenna on the roof and run it down to the receiver. Quite simple. > >> > > >> >They have a couple different models to choose from. > >> > > >> >-Mike > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> >On Mon, 26 Aug 2002, Mike Leber wrote: > >> > > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions for a low priced, off the > >> >> shelf, complete (includes any necessary receivers), standalone > >>(as in you > >> >> just plug it in and connect ethernet), stratum 1 NTP server? > >> >> > >> >> Please also mention where to buy it. > >> >> > >> >> Mike. > >> >> > >> >> +----------------- H U R R I C A N E - E L E C T R I C > >>-----------------+ > >> >> | Mike Leber Direct Internet Connections Voice 510 > >>580 4100 | > >> >> | Hurricane Electric Web Hosting Colocation Fax 510 > >>580 4151 | > >> >> | [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>http://www.he.net | > >> > > > >>+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ > >> > > > >> > > > >-- > >///////////////////////////////////////// > >- Mike Lyon - > >- Studio Engineer - > >- KKUP Public Radio, Cupertino, Ca - > >- Cell: 408-621-4826 - > >- www.fitzharris.com/~mlyon - > >///////////////////////////////////////// > -- ///////////////////////////////////////// - Mike Lyon - - Studio Engineer - - KKUP Public Radio, Cupertino, Ca - - Cell: 408-621-4826 - - www.fitzharris.com/~mlyon - /////////////////////////////////////////
