Brilliant Telecom

What is Network Time Protocol?
Network Time Protocol, or NTP as it’s commonly referred, is a protocol for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched networks. At the top of any NTP hierarchy are one or more reference clocks. These are electronic clocks which synchronize to an accurate common time reference, such as GPS (Global Positioning System). NTP uses the UDP port 123 as its transport layer, which is designed to resist the effects of variable latency such as jitter. Large computers and workstations often include NTP software within their operating systems, but commonly look to third parties to provide a standard, accurate and legally traceable, reference time.

Why is timing and synchronization important?
For companies that need to ensure Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are met, it is necessary for their communications systems to be in sync with one another to ensure time discrepancies do not occur. Aside from choosing to operate more effectively, some organizations are obligated by law to meet requirements for accurate timing and accountability by providing legally traceable time. Recent US regulations such as the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) mandate both an accurate timestamp for all transactions and documents, as well as an audit trail of such transactions. Public organizations that fail to meet these requirements face stiff fines and even jail time for individuals responsible for those failures.

What applications require accurate timing and synchronization?
For certain applications running in real-time, their functions need to be executed in an inter-related sequence within accurate time intervals along a deterministic timeline. This is true for electronic transactions, devices that use command and control, for security and monitoring, telecommunications applications—Voice over IP (VoIP) and IP television (IPTV), and automated factory floor lines.

Additional business operations that depend on accurate timing and synchronization are those that rely on order, and the time in which particular events occurred, such as a data center in the event of issuing or resolving a trouble ticket. This includes an organization’s ability to adhere to regulatory compliances. Audit trails of computer operations, records or processes such as billing generation also depend on accurate time-keeping from all network devices.

The advantages of private NTP servers
Public NTP servers are available through the Internet and use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as the ultimate source of time. Entities such as government labs, universities and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide public NTP servers as a free service. Many computing systems also have their built-in NTP clients configured to well-known public NTP servers. But using a public NTP carries the risk that it may become unavailable—due to NTP server failure, network interruptions, denial of service attacks, or malicious attempts to reconfigure the NTP server time.

Private NTP servers, such as those offered by Brilliant Telecommunications, are different in the fact that they are local, secure and provide highly accurate timing sources. Brilliant’s server products—such as the Zurich Z-1000—not only eliminates the risks arising from public NTP usage but also provide other significant benefits. These benefits include a highly accurate NTP server that is referenced to GPS, distributing an accurate clock creating a private timing network, and timing management interface providing various tools for diagnosis, monitoring and alarms.

How does your technology maintain highly accurate timing?
Brilliant’s full line of carrier-class products are based on network-timed protocols, not just individual timing elements. A 12-channel GPS receiver tracks every visible satellite to maintain timing accuracy and reliability in our products. In environments where tall buildings or telephone poles may block satellite visibility, our products switch to a single satellite tracking mode to maintain timing accuracy. For example, the Zurich Z-1000 will engage in a network with other Z-1000s to retrieve information if a direct connection with the GPS is interrupted. In the unlikely event that both GPS and other Z-1000 network neighbors are unreachable, the Z-1000 enters into holdover mode where the accuracy level is maintained using a tightly temperature controlled OCXO oscillator.