What do want from time Synchronization?

We often respond to questions about whether a customer needs an accurate and reliable time source for their network, and if so, which time source do I need. The answer to this depends primarily on the size of your network, and the how accurate a time source you need for your business.

If you have a smaller network, timing is probably not that critical, but as you add more servers, workstations, and devices such as IP phones, accurate time becomes more important. A typical first step is to point a server or a router to an internet time source and everything on the network gets its time from that server or router.

As your network continues to grow, that same internet time source may not be reliable, secure or accurate enough to keep your network in sync. At that point installing an NTP or PTP GPS time source becomes much more critical

Why does the Time not stay the same on all devices?

Every element in the network has an internal clock but due to things like the quality and age of the oscillator and the working temperature these internal clocks will drift. A server working under load generating more heat will drift a different rate than a server under normal load.

This means that each element in the network is drifting at a different rate and the end result is no two elements have the same exact time.

Who really needs accurate time within their network?

The most common reason that companies need synchronized time is for maintaining Log file accuracy. As the number of servers grow you depend on your log files to troubleshoot and integrate with your Network Management and Security systems. If you have a mis-match time between log file entries your network management system reports begin to lose integrity, and you end up spending more time debugging and matching up multiple log files.

As servers become faster, granularity and accuracy of these time stamps become much more important and you need a more precise time source to eliminate the chance of log entries having the same time stamps, when the process is sequential. In some cases there is a legal requirement to have accurate time stamps and other areas include access, security, and authentication.

When deciding on a time server you need to take into consideration the accuracy, the reliability and security of the time source. We would be happy to help you decide which GPS time source, NTP or PTP, is best for your network.