Receiving the Time and Finding the Correct Time Source
So you have decided to synchronize your network to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), you have a time server that utilizes NTP (Network Time Protocol) now the only thing to decide on is where to receive the time from.
NTP servers do not generate time they simply receive a secure signal from an atomic clock but it is this constant checking of the time that keeps the NTP server accurate and in turn the network that it is synchronizing.
Receiving an atomic clock time signal is where the NTP server comes into its own. There are many sources of UTC time across the Internet but these are not recommended for any corporate use or for whenever security is an issue as internet sources of UTC are external to the firewall and can compromise security – we will discuss this in more detail in future posts.
Commonly, there are two types of time server. There are those that receive an atomic clock source of UTC time from long wave radio broadcasts or those that use the GPS network (Global Positioning System) as a source.
The long wave radio transmissions are broadcast by several national physics laboratories. The most common signals are the USA’s WWVB (broadcast by NIST – National Institute for Standards and Time), the UK’s MSF (broadcast by the UK National Physical Laboratory) and the German DCF signal (Broadcast by the German National Physics Laboratory).
Not every country produces these time signals and the signals are vulnerable to interference from topography. However, in the USA the WWVB signal is receivable in most areas of North America (including Canada) although the signal strength will vary depending on local geography such as mountains etc.
The GPS signal on the other hand is available literally everywhere on the planet as along as the GPS antenna attached to the GPS NTP server can have a clear view of the sky.
Both systems are a truly reliable and accurate method of UTC time and using either will allow synchronization of a computer network to within a few milliseconds of UTC.
