Re: Standalone Stratum 1 NTP Server

[Mike Lyon <mlyon () fitzharris com>]

As I am sure you have noticed from other replies on the list here, the
idea for NTP is not to have a Stratum one device at every single POP. That
would be pricey not only in equipment costs but in roof-rights cost. What
many do for NTP is to have one or two Stratum 1 devices amongst your
network and then distribute it to a box that would then in turn distribute
down to the next layer of equipment and so on. So if you are only spending
$2400 and maybe even $4800 to support NTP across your whole network, I would think
that would be worth it.

-Mike



On Tue, 27 Aug 2002, John Todd wrote:

> Hmm... $2400 is still in the "pricey" range to be throwing out
> bunches of these across a network in wide distribution.  (Pardon me
> if some of you on the list snicker at my reluctance at the $2400
> price - for some of us the "new, new Econcomy" is making things like
> NTP Stratum 1 clocks a luxury that The Budgeters doesn't see as
> necessary, since it's an invisible engineering issue.)
>
> One would think that a vendor could come up with a 1u rackmount box
> with a GPS and single-board computer (BSD or Linux-based) for ~$500
> total cost.   Add 150% for profit and distribution costs, you're
> still in the $1300 range, which is more reasonable.  I suppose my
> oversimplification is the reason I'm not in the hardware business.
> I'd be even happier with a PCI-bus card that I could put into an old
> (reasonably fast) PC and a CD-ROM with an OpenBSD distribution that
> automatically did the Right Thing.   There is a case to be made about
> off-the-shelf PC hardware not being accurate enough to handle a true
> Stratum-1 clock, and that is a valid point.  However, if I can get
> within .5ms, I'm happy since most of my applications don't require
> anything more accurate than that.  (Those of you timing T1's should
> use the more expensive systems.)
>
> I will go out on a limb and say that a reduction in the cost of
> stratum-1 servers will increase their use across the Internet.  The
> results of such an increase would be arguably visible, as the current
> multi-layer timekeeping system seems to be more-or-less keeping
> clocks correct to the point of usefulness, at least from a
> layer-4-and-up standpoint.  However, accuracy and self-determination
> for timing are probably things that most organizations would consider
> "good" by self-evidence, and the lower the price the more possible
> things become to implement.  Perhaps there are reasons that putting
> stratum-1 clocks in many, many places is sub-optimal; I leave that
> for others to illuminate.
>
> I know that I would like to not rely on POP-external network
> connections to keep my clock sources accurate, but these prices
> (while very inexpensive, compared to other stratum-1 sources I have
> seen) are still outside the "put-one-in-every-POP" price.
>
> JT
>
>
>
> At 9:48 AM -0700 8/27/02, Mike Lyon wrote:
> > Here is your base pricing from Truetime:
> >
> > NTS-150 $2395
> > NTS-200 $3595
> >
> > -Mike
> >
> > On Tue, 27 Aug 2002, John Todd wrote:
> >
> > >  Happen to know what the base price is for these?   "Low price" is a
> > >  relative term when dealing with clock makers.  :)
> > >
> > >  JT
> > >
> > >
> > >  >http://www.truetime.com/index.html
> > >  >
> > >  >Not exactly "stand alone" because you have to place the antenna somwhere
> > >  >where it can see the GPS satellites as is the case with any any Stratum 1
> > >  >NTP device. Then you have to program the IP into it and plug the ethernet
> > >  >into it. They are really simple to install and configure. They give you a
> > >  >certain amount of Coax (you can order more if need be) and you put the
> > >  >antenna on the roof and run it down to the receiver. Quite simple.
> > >  >
> > >  >They have a couple different models to choose from.
> > >  >
> > >  >-Mike
> > >  >
> > >  >
> > >  >
> > >  >On Mon, 26 Aug 2002, Mike Leber wrote:
> > >  >
> > >  >>
> > >  >>
> > >  >>  I was wondering if anybody has any suggestions for a low priced, off the
> > >  >>  shelf, complete (includes any necessary receivers), standalone
> > > (as in you
> > >  >>  just plug it in and connect ethernet), stratum 1 NTP server?
> > >  >>
> > >  >>  Please also mention where to buy it.
> > >  >>
> > >  >>  Mike.
> > >  >>
> > >  >>  +----------------- H U R R I C A N E - E L E C T R I C
> > > -----------------+
> > >  >>  | Mike Leber           Direct Internet Connections   Voice 510
> > > 580 4100 |
> > >  >>  | Hurricane Electric     Web Hosting  Colocation       Fax 510
> > > 580 4151 |
> > >  >>  | mleber () he net
> > > http://www.he.net |
> > >  >  >
> > > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
> > >  >  >
> >
> > --
> > /////////////////////////////////////////
> > -              Mike Lyon                -
> > -           Studio Engineer             -
> > -   KKUP Public Radio, Cupertino, Ca    -
> > -        Cell:  408-621-4826            -
> > -     www.fitzharris.com/~mlyon         -
> > /////////////////////////////////////////

-- 
/////////////////////////////////////////
-              Mike Lyon                -
-           Studio Engineer             -
-   KKUP Public Radio, Cupertino, Ca    -
-        Cell:  408-621-4826            -
-     www.fitzharris.com/~mlyon         -
/////////////////////////////////////////