Keeping accurate time is essential for many applications and dedicated NTP time servers make the job easy for network administrators. These devices receive an external time signal, often from GPS or sometimes from broadcast signals put out by organisations such as NIST, NPL and PTB (national physics labs from US, UK and Germany).

Synchronization with a NTP time server is made all the more easier thanks to NTP (network time protocol) this software protocol distributes the time source by constantly checking the time on all devices and adjusting any drift to match the time signal that is received.

Time synchronization is not just the concern of large networks. Even single machines and routers ought to be synchronised because at the very least it will help keep a system secure and make error detection a whole lot easier.

Fortunately, most versions of Windows contain a form of NTP. Often it is a simplified version but it is enough to allow a PC to be synchronized with the global time scale UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). On most Windows machines this is relatively easy to do and can be achieved by double clicking on the clock icon in the task bar then selecting a time provider in the internet time tab.

These time sources are internet based meaning that they are external to the firewall so a UDP port has to be left open to allow the time signal to enter. This can cause some security issues so for those wanting perfect synchronization without any security issues then the best solution is to invest in a dedicated time server. These need not be expensive and as they receive an atomic clock time signal externally then here is no breach in the firewall leaving your network secure.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and specialist in atomic clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other NTP time server solutions.

Author: Richard N Williams
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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We are all looking for freebies, particularly in the present financial climate and the internet is not short of them. Free software, free films, free music, almost everything these days has a free version. Even critical applications for our computers and networks such as anti-virus can come free. So it is understandable that when network administrators want to synchronize the time on computer networks they turn to free sources of UTC time (UTC – Coordinated Universal Time) to synchronize their networks using the operating systems’ own inbuilt NTP server.

However, just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, free time sources come with a cost too. To start with all time servers on the internet that are available for the public to use are stratum 2 servers. This means they are devices that receive the time from another device (a stratum 1 time server) that gets it from an atomic clock. While this second hand time source shouldn’t lose too much time compared to the original, for high levels of accuracy there will be a noticeable drift.

Furthermore, internet time sources are based outside the network firewall. For access to the time server a UDP port needs to be left open. This will mean the network firewall will intrinsically have a hole in it which could be manipulated y a malicious user or aggressive malware.

Another consideration is the inbuilt security that the time transfer protocol NTP (Network Time Protocol) uses to assess the time signal it receives is genuine. This is referred to as authentication but is unavailable across the internet. Meaning the time source may not be what it claims to be and with a hole in the firewall it could result in a malicious attack.

Internet time sources can also be unreliable. Many are too far from clients to provide any real accuracy some time sources available on the internet are wildly out (some by hours not just minutes). There are however, more reputable stratum 2 servers available and the NTP pool has details of those.

For real accuracy with none of the security threats the best solution is to use an external time source. The best method for doing this is to utilise a dedicated NTP server. These devices work exterior to the firewall and receive the time either direct from GPS satellites or via broadcasts by national physics labs such as NIST or NPL.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and specialist in atomic clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other NTP time server solutions.

Author: Richard N Williams
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Most businesses these days rely on a computer network. Computers in most organisations conduct thousands of tasks a second, from controlling production lines; ordering stock; preparing financial records and communicating with computers on other networks – often from the other side of the world.

Computers use just one thing to keep track of all these tasks: time. Timestamps are the computers only reference for when an event or task occurs in relation to other events. They receive time in the form of timestamps and they measure time in periods of milliseconds (thousandth of a second) as they may conduct hundreds of processes each second.

A global timescale known as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) has been developed to ensure computers from different organisations all over the world can synchronise together. So what happens if the clocks on computers don’t coincide with each other or with UTC?

The consequences of running a network with computers that are not synchronised can be disastrous. Here are five reasons why all businesses need adequate network synchronisation using a NTP server (Network Time Protocol) or other network time server device.

1. Tasks fail to happen:

When computers are running at different times, events on different machines can fail to happen as often a PC may assume an event on another machines has already happened if the time for that event has passed according to its own clock. And what is worse, when one task fails it has a knock-on effect with other tasks failing to happen and in turn causing further tasks to fail.

2. Loss of Data:

When tasks fail to happen it soon gets noticed but when networks are not synchronised data that is meant to be kept can quite easily be lost and it can go unnoticed for quite a while. Data can be lost because storage as and retrieval is also reliant on time stamps.

3. Security Breaches:

When networks are not synchronised log files are not recorded properly or in the right order which means that hackers and malicious users can breach security unnoticed. Many security software programs are also reliant on timestamps with anti-virus updates failing to happen or scheduled tasks falling behind. If your network controls time-sensitive transactions then this can even result in fraud if there is a lack of synchronisation.

4. Legal Vulnerability:

Time is not just used by computers to order events it is used in the legal world too. Contracts, receipts, proof-of-purchase are all reliant on time. If a network is not synchronised then it becomes difficult to prove when transactions actually took place and it will prove difficult to audit them. Furthermore, when it comes to serious matters such as fraud or other criminality a dedicated NTP server or other network time server device synchronised to UTC is legally auditable, its time can not be argued with!

5. Company Credibility:

Succumbing to any of these potential hazards can not just have devastating effects on your own business but also that of your clients and suppliers too. And the business grapevine being what it is any potential failing on your part will soon become common knowledge amongst your competitors, customers and suppliers and be seen as bad business practices.

Running a synchronised network adhering to UTC is not difficult. Many network administrators think that synchronisation just means an occasional time request to an online NTP time source; however, doing so will leave a system just as vulnerable to fraud and malicious users as having no synchronisation. This is because to use an Internet time source would require leaving a permanent port open in the firewall.

The solution is to use a dedicated NTP time server that receives a UTC time source from either a radio transmission (broadcast by national physics laboratories) or the GPS network (Global Positioning System). These are secure and can keep a network running to within a few milliseconds of UTC.

Richard N Williams and Richard Hawkesford are technical authors and specialists in atomic clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other network time server solutions.

Author: Richard N Williams
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft is also their first operating system that automatically synchronizes the PC clock to an internet source of UTC time (Coordinated Universal Time). From the moment a Windows 7 computer is switched on and is connected to the Internet it will request time signals from the Microsoft time service – time.windows.com.

While for many home users this will save them the hassle of setting and correcting their clock as it drifts, for business users it may be problematic as internet time sources are not secure and receiving a time source through the UDP port on the firewall could lead to security breaches and as Internet time sources can’t be authenticated by NTP (Network Time Protocol) the signals can be hijacked by malicious users.

This internet time source can be deactivated by opening the clock and date dialogue box, and opening the Internet Time tab, clicking the ‘Change’ setting button and unchecking the ‘Synchronize with an Internet time server option.’

Whilst this will unsure no unwanted traffic will be coming through your firewall it will also mean that the Windows 7 machine will not be synchronized to UTC and its timekeeping will be reliant on the motherboard clock, which will eventually drift.

To synchronize a network of Windows 7 machines to an accurate and secure source of UTC then the most practical and simplest solution is to plug in a dedicated NTP time server. These connect directly to a router or switch and enable the safe receiving of an atomic clock time source.

NTP time servers use the highly accurate and secure GPS signal (Global Positioning System) available everywhere on the planet or more localized long wave radio signals transmitted by several national physics laboratories such as NIST and NPL.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and specialist in atomic clocks, telecommunications, NTP and network time synchronisation helping to develop dedicated NTP clocks. Please visit us for more information about an NTP server or other NTP time server solutions.

Author: Richard N Williams
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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