100 lines
5.4 KiB
HTML
100 lines
5.4 KiB
HTML
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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>
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Quick Start
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</TITLE></HEAD><BODY><H3>
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Quick Start
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</H3>
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<img align=left src=pic/panda.gif>FAX test image for SATNET (1979).
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<p>The baby panda was scanned at University College London and used
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as a FAX test image for a demonstration of the DARPA Atlantic
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SATNET Program and the first transatlantic Internet connection in 1978.
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The computing system used for that demonstration was called the <A
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HREF="http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mills/database/papers/fuzz.ps">Fuzzball
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</A>. As it happened, this was also the first Internet multimedia
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presentation and the first to use NTP in regular operation. The image
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was widely copied and used for testing purpose throughout much of the
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1980s.
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<br clear=left>
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<H4>Introduction</H4>
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<p>This page describes what to expect when the NTP daemon <tt>ntpd</tt>
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is started for the first time. The discussion presumes the programs in
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this distribution have been compiled and installed as described in the
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<a href=build.htm>Building and Installing the Distribution</a> page.
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<p>When the daemon is started, whether for the first or subsequent
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times, a number of roundtrip samples are required to accumulate reliable
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measurements of network path delay and clock offset relative to the
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server. Normally, this takes about four minutes, after which the local
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clock is synchronized to the server. The daemon behavior at startup
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depends on whether a drift file <tt>ntp.drift</tt> exists. This file
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contains the latest estimate of local clock frequency error. When the
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daemon is started for the first time, it is created after about one hour
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of operation and updated once each hour after that. When the daemon is
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started and the file does not exist, the daemon enters a special mode
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designed to quickly adapt to the particular system clock oscillator time
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and frequency error. This takes approximately 15 minutes, after which
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the time and frequency are set to nominal values and the daemon enters
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normal mode, where the time and frequency are continuously tracked
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relative to the server.
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<p>As a practical matter, once the local clock has been set, it very
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rarely strays more than 128 ms relative to the server, even under
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extreme cases of network path congestion and jitter. Sometimes, in
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particular when the daemon is first started, the relative clock offset
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exceeds 128 ms. In such cases the normal behavior of the daemon is to
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set the clock directly, rather than rely on gradual corrections. This
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may cause the clock to be set backwards, if the local clock time is more
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than 128 s in the future relative to the server. In some applications,
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this behavior may be unacceptable. If the <tt>-x</tt> option is included
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on the command line that starts the daemon, the clock will never be
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stepped and only slew corrections will be used.
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<p>The issues should be carefully explored before deciding to use the
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<tt>-x</tt> option. The maximum slew rate possible is limited to 500
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parts-per-million (PPM) as a consequence of the correctness principles
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on which the NTP protocol and algorithm design are based. As a result,
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the local clock can take a long time to converge to an acceptable
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offset, about 2000 s for each second the clock is outside the acceptable
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range. During this interval the local clock will not be consistent with
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any other network clock and the system cannot be used for distributed
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applications that require correctly synchronized network time.
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<p>There may be an occasional outlyer, where an individual measurement
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exceeds 128 ms. When the frequency of occurrence of these outlyers is
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low, the measurement is discarded and operation continues with the next
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one. However, if the outlyers persist for an interval longer than about
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15 minutes, the next value is believed and the clock stepped or slewed
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as determined by the <tt>-x</tt> option. The usual reason for this
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behavior is when a leap second has occurred, but the reference clock
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receiver has not synchronized to it. When leap second support is
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implemented in the kernel, the kernel implements it as directed by the
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NTP daemon. If this happens and the reference clock source
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resynchronizes correctly within 15 minutes, the transient misbehavior of
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the source is transparent.
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<p>It has been observed that, as the result of extreme network
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congestion, the roundtrip delays can exceed three seconds and the
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synchronization distance, which is equal to one-half the roundtrip delay
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plus the error budget terms, can become very large. When the
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synchronization distance exceeds one second, the offset measurement is
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discarded. If this condition persists for several poll intervals, the
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server may be declared unreachable. Sometimes the large jitter results
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in large frequency errors which result in straying outside the
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acceptable offset range and an eventual step or slew time correction. If
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following such a correction the frequency error is so large that the
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first sample is outside the acceptable range, the daemon enters the same
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state as when the <tt>ntp.drift</tt> file is not present. The intent of
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this behavior is to quickly correct the frequency and restore operation
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to the normal tracking mode. In the most extreme cases
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(<tt>time.ien.it</tt> comes to mind), there may be occasional step/slew
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corrections and subsequent frequency corrections. It helps in these
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cases to use burst mode when configuring the server.
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<hr><a href=index.htm><img align=left src=pic/home.gif></a><address><a
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href=mailto:mills@udel.edu> David L. Mills <mills@udel.edu></a>
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</address></a></body></html>
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