Re: [ntp:questions] Solaris 8 xntpd vs ntpd?

2009-08-03 Thread Brian Utterback
Unruh wrote:
> David Woolley  writes:
> 
>> Unruh wrote:
> 
>>> xntp is ntpd 3 as far as I know. The current ntp is ntp 4 which has a
>>> lot of improvements and changes. ntp4 is the only version which is
>>> supported. 
> 
>> I assume that Sun support the NTP V3 implementation that they supply, 
>> and wouldn't support the current one, installed lcoally.
> 
> And exactly what Sun support do you expect to get? Sun is not an expert
> on ntp.

Well, as the Sun NTP lead engineer, let me just say "Hurrumph"!

But more to the point, Solaris 8 is no longer supported. It is a 
perfect match, an ancient OS with an ancient NTP version.

Really, why are you using Solaris 8? Use OpenSolaris. It comes with 
NTP 4.2.5p172 already installed and fully supported.

Brian Utterback

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Re: [ntp:questions] Seeking help configuring GPS refclock

2009-08-03 Thread Rich Wales
Kevin Oberman wrote:

> I don't know what the path is from your location to Stanford's NTP
> server . . . .

I'm in a Stanford-built housing complex immediately adjacent to the
campus.  The extra (and likely asymmetric) delay in my case is most
likely happening because my residence is connected via a cable modem
infrastructure run by the Stanford campus's IT services people.

> NTP assumes the same delay for the return packet that it had for
> the request packet.  If that is not the case, you will see a fixed
> offset.  The only fix is a 'fudge' of the time for that server.  If
> the path is unstable, even that will not work.

I thought the "xleave" feature in ntp-dev was supposed to compensate
for asymmetric paths.  All my systems are running ntp-dev and peering
with one another with "xleave" specified.

The Stanford campus tickers are running production versions of ntpd
(and thus not using xleave, and I'm not peering to them anyway), but
I assumed I could minimize the effects of the cable modem asymmetry
by syncing to the campus NTP infrastructure from iknow.richw.org
(which is in my office on the main campus network and connected to
my home LANvia a VPN link), and then peering between iknow and my
other hosts (located physically at home) using the "xleave" feature
in ntp-dev.

In any case, when I did my experiment last night with a second server
(using a modem refclock), both of my stratum-1 servers were at home
-- sitting next to each other on the same table and plugged into the
same 100baseT switch -- so there shouldn't have been any network
delays to speak of between them -- and they still appeared to differ
by several milliseconds.

-- 
Rich Wales  /  ri...@richw.org  /  ri...@stanford.edu
Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Richwales
Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/richwales
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Re: [ntp:questions] Seeking help configuring GPS refclock

2009-08-03 Thread Kevin Oberman
> Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:52:39 -0700
> From: Rich Wales 
> Sender: questions-bounces+oberman=es@lists.ntp.org
> 
> My experimental stratum-1 server (using a Garmin GPS as its reference clock)
> continues to run stably -- albeit with an offset several msec different from
> the rest of my home LAN (which is synced to Stanford University's time server
> infrastructure).
> 
>  remote   refid  st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
> ==
> oGPS_NMEA(0) .GPS.0 l28  3770.000   -0.001   0.002
>  PPS(0)  .PPS.9 l68  3770.0000.000   0.002
> *iknow.richw.org 171.64.7.115 3 u   10   16  376   10.058   -9.249   3.871

I see a couple of things here. First, almost 4 ms. of jitter is
excessive for a stable, uncongested network link. I don't know what the
path is from your location to Stanford's NTP server, but at 10
ms. delay, it's a few hundred miles. I suspect that the link is
congested at some point and, more significantly, I suspect that it is
asymmetric. 

NTP assumes the same delay for the return packet that it had for the
request packet. If that is not the case, you will see a fixed
offset. The only fix is a 'fudge' of the time for that server. If the
path is unstable, even that will not work.

If the congestion that is producing the jitter is pretty consistent, it
will null out eventually, with a small offset it the congestion is only
in one direction (which it usually is). From where I sit in Berkeley, I
see the Stanford system 4.5 ms. away and a std. deviation of only .168
ms., so I suspect the congestion may be closer to you.
-- 
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: ober...@es.net  Phone: +1 510 486-8634
Key fingerprint:059B 2DDF 031C 9BA3 14A4  EADA 927D EBB3 987B 3751
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Re: [ntp:questions] Seeking help configuring GPS refclock

2009-08-03 Thread Rich Wales
My experimental stratum-1 server (using a Garmin GPS as its reference clock)
continues to run stably -- albeit with an offset several msec different from
the rest of my home LAN (which is synced to Stanford University's time server
infrastructure).

 remote   refid  st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==
oGPS_NMEA(0) .GPS.0 l28  3770.000   -0.001   0.002
 PPS(0)  .PPS.9 l68  3770.0000.000   0.002
*iknow.richw.org 171.64.7.115 3 u   10   16  376   10.058   -9.249   3.871

In an attempt to compare my results with something (and get some idea of
which of us -- the campus server or my own -- is more likely correct), I
set up a second test server here at home, using a Conexant HCF modem (a
PCI device) phoning NIST in Colorado.  The results from this setup appear
disappointingly unstable (several msec jitter even after running all night),
but the modem refclock seems to be more in agreement with the campus clock
than with mine.  Here are a few "ntpq -p" outputs from this second system
(I've omitted some of my home LAN systems from the peer list to reduce
clutter somewhat).

 remote   refid  st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==
*sixeyes.richw.o .GPS.1 u   13   16  3760.1030.327   0.018
+iknow.richw.org 171.64.7.115 3 u   60   64  376   10.593   -8.087   1.696
 ACTS_MODEM(0)   .NIST.   0 l  273  512  2770.000   -5.147   3.674

 remote   refid  st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==
*sixeyes.richw.o .GPS.1 u5   16  3770.0970.127   0.014
+iknow.richw.org 171.64.7.115 3 u9   64  3779.888  -10.077   2.085
 ACTS_MODEM(0)   .NIST.   0 l  185  512  3770.000  -16.325  10.689

 remote   refid  st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==
*sixeyes.richw.o .GPS.1 u4   16  3770.0990.158   0.057
+iknow.richw.org 171.64.7.77  3 u2   64  3778.919   -9.841   1.103
 ACTS_MODEM(0)   .NIST.   0 l  120  512  3770.000   -5.147   5.961

The 171.64.7.* hosts in the above are stratum-2 servers at Stanford,
which are in turn syncing to 171.64.7.87, a stratum-1 server with a
TrueTime GPS receiver.  Also, the delay reaching iknow.richw.org (on
campus) is because I'm going through a cable modem -- but all my
boxes are running ntp-dev and using xleave, which is why jitter to
iknow.richw.org is low.

I also checked the "clockstats" data on the server with the modem,
and it reported timestamps ending in "#" (delay correction valid).
I can post some of this data if anyone thinks it would matter.

So, at this point, what basis (if any) would I have to conclude that
my test server is or isn't accurate?  And if it isn't accurate, what
should I do to fix the problem?  Or, if the campus server is likely to
be the falseticker, how would one go about establishing that fact?

In case it might matter, I checked the geographical coordinates being
output by my GPS against a satellite photo from Google Maps, and it's
showing my exact location to within a few feet.  And the GPS claims to
be consistently seeing at least seven satellites.  So I would assume
my GPS unit is working properly -- except for the above evidence that
seems to suggest its time is off.

Any thoughts or suggestions welcomed.

-- 
Rich Wales  /  ri...@richw.org  /  ri...@stanford.edu
Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Richwales
Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/richwales
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