I’m often asked about how to configure equipment for time servers. It is useful if equipment keeps logs of activities. These logs can be viewed to help diagnose problems or find out if things are running smoothly. It is also help if all the log entries are stamped with the time and date. The problem is that you might not want to set the date and time on every device
A timer server is an internet based server that provides time and date information. These are used for scientific work, and also for general use.
I use these servers for my broadband modem, when the modem starts up and at preset intervals it synchronises with these time servers.
The protocol used is NTP (Network Time Protocol)
- bear.zoo.bt.co.uk
- ntp.exnet.com
- 158.43.128.33
- 195.7.224.135
- 158.43.192.66
I’d recommend setting up your own NTP server if you have a lot of kit, and remember the security issues of using public servers with no authentication: Don’t even think of running eCommerce sites using public NTP.
Finally there are tier one servers, very accurate but only for astronomers and scientific use. Please do not use these as it uses up a valuable and expensive resource. Use the tier 2 time servers.