Ten Reasons Your Organisation Needs A Time Server

Synchronisation of computers and processes on a computer network is a very important and often over-looked issue. Computers do not generally keep good time when left to their own devices. This can have serious implications for many applications, such as transaction processing, billing services, and security systems. Presented here are the top ten reasons your organisation needs to implement network time synchronisation using a local dedicated time server.

1. Synchronisation of Servers and Workstations. Computers utilise relatively low-cost components to maintain time. As a result they are notoriously poor at keeping accurate time. If left unsynchronised each computer on a network will slowly drift away from the correct time to varying degrees. After a relatively short period of time, each computer will have a significantly different time. This can have catastrophic effects for many applications. Typically, transactions could have incorrect time-stamps and become ordered incorrectly; backups could start at inappropriate times, to name but a few issues. Accurate system-wide time ensures servers and workstation process events in an orderly pre-determined manner.

2. Synchronisation of Network Infrastructure. It isn't just servers and workstations that befit from accurate time. Many devices that form your network infrastructure such as routers, switches and telephone systems benefit from an accurate time reference. Automated backup devices also need accurate time to allow them to schedule backups correctly and not interfere with other important tasks.

3. Internet Time References. There are many internet based NTP servers available that can be freely used as a time reference. Often, these services are provided by universities or scientific departments. They have the advantage of providing a free service without the need for any special hardware. However, as discussed below, they can have associated problems.

4. Provision of Service. Internet time references, of which there are many, often provide a free service. However, the providers of the service are under no obligation to guarantee availability of the service. Servers may be taken down at any time for unscheduled maintenance or configuration purposes. Additionally, restrictions may be applied to the service during certain times. The lack of guarantee of provision may result in loss of synchronisation of your network - which can have very expensive repercussions.

5. Accuracy. The accuracy of timing systems over a network degrades considerably as the distance between server and client increases. Internet NTP servers are by their very nature a long way from any clients, with many complex network paths in-between. Precision is profoundly degraded due to the asymmetric latency of packets generated by a client compared to when they are received from the server. Round trip delays of timing packets can be irregular, thus impacting on the accuracy of synchronisation. A local time server has much reduced network latency. Packets of information are transferred much quicker and more consistently between server and client. Clients can often synchronise to within a couple of milliseconds of a local time reference.

6. Reliability. Dedicated local time servers are designed specifically for the task of providing a network with an accurate time reference. They tend to utilise industrial grade components with much improved reliability when compared to desktop PC's. Reliability is also increased by the fact that these devices often run at much lower temperatures than desktops. Internet based time references often use standard desktop PC's to provide a service with their inherent reduced reliability. Additionally, there is much more network hardware utilised to access Internet systems due to complex network paths.

7. Configuration and Control. A recent survey of Internet based NTP servers indicated that as many as 78% were configured incorrectly. This leaves only a minority of servers that are actually useful as timing references. You have complete control over the configuration of a local time server ensuring that it is set up correctly for your organisations needs. A local time reference also generally provides monitoring systems to warn of out of tolerance or error conditions so that they can be swiftly acted upon.

8. Security. Internet based time references require contact to be established from servers within your firewall. It requires ports to be left open in the firewall to allow communication of timestamps. This introduces an inherent security risk that can be exploited by hackers. A local time reference is installed inside your firewall, thus allowing firewalls to be completely locked down - preventing malicious activity. Additionally, complete synchronisation of networked systems can help prevent fraudulent activity by malicious users within an organisation.

9. Traceability. The time provided by a local time reference can be traced by an unbroken chain of calibrations back to a precise reference such as GPS. The resulting reference time can be accurately stated to be within a specified tolerance. Demonstrable traceability is often required by a court of law in legal proceedings.

10. Law. Most local time servers provide detailed logs of information specifying the accuracy of time reference over any given period. Recordkeeping such as this is often required in a court of law to prove legal traceability of time at a given period. Such records can be used to convince a jury of absolute time in a court of law.

To summarise, a network time server is an important but often overlooked resource in an organisations network infrastructure. The importance of time synchronisation in a networked environment cannot be overstated. Internet time references provide a freely available source of time but there is no continuous guarantee of service. The availability of a local time reference is paramount to the correct functioning of many organisations systems.