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085 NTP Study Notes

The document discusses Network Time Protocol (NTP) which synchronizes clocks on Cisco network devices. NTP uses a hierarchy of time servers starting from an authoritative source, with stratum levels indicating hops from the source. Common modes include client which points to a lower stratum server, and server which provides time to higher stratum clients or polls an external time server. NTP ensures accurate timestamps for logging and transactions through redundancy of servers.

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Dennis Fiel
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74 views

085 NTP Study Notes

The document discusses Network Time Protocol (NTP) which synchronizes clocks on Cisco network devices. NTP uses a hierarchy of time servers starting from an authoritative source, with stratum levels indicating hops from the source. Common modes include client which points to a lower stratum server, and server which provides time to higher stratum clients or polls an external time server. NTP ensures accurate timestamps for logging and transactions through redundancy of servers.

Uploaded by

Dennis Fiel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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com

Network Time Protocol (NTP)


Previously, DNS name servers were explained as an addressing service
that resolves (learn) an IP address from a hostname. There are time
servers as well that synchronize clocks on all Cisco network devices. The
architecture is based on a centralized public time source that synchronize
clocks within a private domain.

The network service is enabled with Network Time Protocol (NTP) that is
supported on Cisco IOS. The primary purpose of NTP is to synchronize
clocks within a private administrative domain for system messages and
time stamps. It is important to accurately record when an event occurred
for reporting, auditing and troubleshooting purposes. It extends to
applications such as video surveillance, security logs and financial
transactions for example.

The idea of an accurate, centralized time source is foundational to time


services architecture. Time synchronization is based on Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC) for time services globally. The time zone is
configured as an offset from UTC. For example, Pacific Standard Time
(PST) is represented as UTC -08:00 (eight hours behind UTC).

Stratum Levels
NTP is based on a hierarchy of public and/or private time servers that
start from a top-level authoritative time source. The authoritative time
source is typically an internet-based public NTP server. The public time
servers are connected directly to an atomic clock (stratum 0) and are
designated as stratum 1 servers. NTP stratum describes how many hops
device is from the authoritative time source. Higher level stratum devices
receive updates from same or lower stratum devices. For example, an
internet router with a public interface configured to synchronize with an
authoritative time server is stratum 2.

The internal clock on that router is updated at regular polling intervals.


Any downstream neighbor that is receiving updates from the internet
router is assigned stratum 3.
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Table 1 Cisco Time Sources

Time Source Description


private internal network device
system calendar initializes software clock after restart
software clock initially set by hardware clock
public external time server

There is less reliability and accuracy as the stratum assigned increases.


That is important to know since NTP will select the most reliable source
for a network device when a primary server is not available. NTP does not
permit updates from any source that is assigned stratum level 15. The
internal Cisco clock is assigned stratum level 7.

Figure 1 Network Time Protocol


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NTP Association Modes


Within NTP configuration, there are various different association modes
that can be assigned to Cisco network devices. Each role determines the
source of time updates and redundancy enabled.

There is a hierarchy to time services that is created based on the


operational role and stratum level assigned. The time sources can be a
private network device or public server. Cisco defines the following
configuration roles within a private domain. They include server, client,
client/server, peer, and master.

Client Mode
This is the most common mode enabled with ntp server command. It
specifies the IP address of a time source with a lower stratum level.
Typically most Cisco network devices point to an internal network device
with lower stratum level. At least one internal router is configured with the
same command that references a public authoritative time source by
hostname (pool.ntp.org).

router(config)# ntp server pool.ntp.org


router(config)# ntp server 172.16.3.1

Client/Server Mode
Cisco support client mode and server mode on the same network device.
The local device receives time updates from a lower stratum server and
advertises to a higher stratum level device.

Symmetric Mode (Peer)


Mutual clock synchronization of directly connected network devices with
each configured as time source. This is enabled with ntp peer command
along with IP address of peering neighbor device.

router(config)# ntp peer 172.16.3.2

Master Mode
This mode is used commonly as a failover when internet connectivity is
not available. It becomes the top-level authoritative time server on a
private domain that replaces external public server. There is the option to
configure ntp master command along with a stratum level.
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Internal network devices would derive time synchronization from the clock
of that device. Alternatively, you can configure a public hostname on a
different internet connection. The default for master mode is stratum level

router(config)# ntp master 5


router(config)# ntp master time-a.nist.org
router# show ntp status
router# show ntp associations

What redundancy is enabled with Network Time Protocol (NTP)?

Answer
The following are all characteristics of NTP network protocol.

 Provides time source for logging and time stamp transactions


 N+1 server redundancy supported (NTP master + failover)
 Reference is UTC coordinated universal time
 DNS is required for resolving time server IP address

What NTP mode polls an external time server?

Answer
The following statement correctly describe NTP operation:

 Server mode routers provide time source to client mode devices


 Stratum level is the distance from NTP authoritative time source
 Server mode routers poll external time server unless ntp master is
enabled

The following IOS command is used to show NTP server synchronization


status and stratum level for a router.

router# show ntp status

The following IOS command is used to show the NTP association status
with neighbors and NTP mode of the local client network device
(client/server).

router# show ntp associations

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