Building A Stratum 1 Gps Ntp Server

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) was developed to provide a way of synchronising Internet clients to an accurate network time reference. NTP allows the time on client computers to be set to within a fraction of the correct time. The NTP protocol is a suite of programs designed specifically for time synchronisation purposes. The application source code is freely downloadable from the NTP website. Originally developed for the Linux operating system, NTP has since been ported to Microsoft Windows platforms.

Combining an accurate external timing reference with the NTP application provides a highly accurate network timing device. This article describes how to utilise a low-cost GPS receiver in combination with the NTP software distribution to provide an accurate stratum 1 NTP server timing reference.

The NTP source code can be obtained from the NTP website and must be compiled on the local machine. The downloadable NTP tar file extracts to a directory where scripts are available to make compilation and configuration very straight-forward. Linux distributions such as Redhat and Debian install the NTP distribution by default. To set up and install a stratum 1 time server a stable external timing reference is required. The NTP software provides a large number of reference clock drivers that can be utilised to interface with a range of hardware timing references. Dedicated hardware timing devices can be prohibitively expensive. However, the popularity of GPS navigation devices has reduced the cost of GPS technology. Low-cost GPS receivers are now readily available from around $100. Many GPS receivers have a RS232 serial communications port, which can easily be connected to a PC. Many low-cost GPS devices use the NMEA protocol, which is a standard GPS protocol for providing location and timing information. The timing information can be utilised by the NTP software as an accurate timing reference to provide a stratum 1 NTP server.

The NTP software needs to be compiled with the NMEA reference clock driver to interface with the GPS receiver. Once compiled the application must be configured to utilise the correct serial port. On completion, the NTP software will provide a highly accurate stratum 1 NTP server resource.

A NTP server can be utilised to synchronise time on most computer operating systems and network infrastructure. Any network device that has an integrated NTP client can be configured to synchronise time with the NTP server. Generally, clients only need the IP address of the NTP server for synchronisation. With a NTP server, you can synchronise almost any device on your network.

By: David Evans

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Dave Evans is an experienced technical author in the field of computer network timing. For a number of years Dave has provided an authoring service to the telecommunications industry. Click here to find out more about NTP server systems.