Jeff Boyce wrote:
Greetings -
I am using NTP on a fully up to date RHEL3 system (Dell PE2600
hardware). I use a very basic configuration file (see below) and also
use the North America NTP pool servers. Since I got ntp running
properly (I think) about two weeks ago, I notice a lot of ntp
information in my log file (see log snippet below).
1. I am wondering if this is an indication of a properly (or improperly)
running ntp system?
2. If this logging is normal, are there any recommendations for how I
can reduce the amount of logging?
3. How do I find out what the standard polling interval is, and how
would I reduce the interval if I wanted to?
Thanks.
#/etc/ntp.conf
server 0.us.pool.ntp.org
server 1.us.pool.ntp.org
server 2.us.pool.ntp.org
server 127.127.1.0 # local clock
fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift
# ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset
jitter
=====================================================
LOCAL(0) LOCAL(0) 10 l 18 64 377 0.000 0.000 0.015
*dns01.flame.org clock.xmission. 2 u 19 64 377 73.882 8.660
42.399
+216-136-10-198. ns.nts.umn.edu 3 u 30 64 377 112.790 9.468
48.783
+sfobug.org 97.226.103.255 2 u 16 64 377 113.669 15.344
40.253
********* /var/log/messages ***********
Sep 10 04:46:26 bison ntpd[20484]: time reset 0.842745 s
Sep 10 04:46:26 bison ntpd[20484]: synchronisation lost
<snip>
That does not look like a happy system to me! Your ntpq "banner" shows
high values of jitter and long round trip delays. Since you are using
pool servers, this is not exactly under your control but it is not good.
The best servers are those close to you in "net space" because the
error in transmitting time from server to client is limited to one half
the round trip delay. It is usually much less than that but can't
possibly be greater.
The high jitter figures say that, if one of those servers were to send
you a packet every second, the packets would not arrive at exact one
second intervals. It's highly improbable that they would in any case
but your internet connection seems to be introducing quite a bit of
randomness in the transmission times!
What can you do? Try to find a server or two with a round trip delay
less than twenty milliseconds. Servers should be physically close to
you; if you are in Los Angeles, don't consider servers in New York City!
It may not be possible to find better servers than the ones you are
using; good servers are in short supply! If you really need, or want,
precise time you could do as I and many others have done; buy a GPS
timing receiver and operate your own stratum one server. Or try a
better internet connection.
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