At 07:25 PM 4/18/2011, Chuck Swiger wrote...
On Apr 18, 2011, at 2:54 PM, C BlacK wrote:
> Thanks for all the great answers. Now for a harder question, how
does the accuracy of the local clock source affect the accuracy of
ntpd.
Normally, except for stratum-1 NTP servers which are specifically
configured to use a high-quality local timesource (ie, GPS, ACTS, WWV,
atomic clocks, etc), the local clock isn't used at all.
Of course it is. Don't confuse the RTC used for power-off timekeeping
(or the 127.127.1.0 "local" NTP driver) with the clock source used for
timekeeping while operating. NTP doesn't keep time, it keeps the local
clock source _in time_. NTP itself doesn't have an accuracy, one is
concerned with how accurately it keeps the local clock in sync. If the
local clock source is moving around, then NTP is constantly "chasing"
it to try and keep it in sync. This has to have an effect on accuracy.
In the case of Linux, the local clock source is whatever is driving the
kernel clock (tsc, hpet, acpi_pm, etc.). "cat
/sys/devices/system/clocksource/clocksource0/current_clocksource" if
you want to see what a modern Linux box is using. These are all subject
to errors in accuracy. These are almost universally driven by
not-so-good crystals (but there's probably someone here driving their's
with a Cs), and subject to significant temperature drifts. My best NTP
server swings about 0.01 ppm with normal household temperature changes
(~1 C), my worst one about 0.1 ppm, and that's pretty good. I'd expect
PC crystals to be spec'd no better than 20 ppm for 0-50 C, if that, or
0.4 ppm/C.
_______________________________________________
questions mailing list
questions@lists.ntp.org
http://lists.ntp.org/listinfo/questions
