[c-nsp] NTP Servers

[Nick Hilliard]

On 23/06/2012 14:14, Josh Baird wrote:
> It seems like a waste to spend money on "NTP appliances," when you can
> build an "enterprise quality" system using Linux (for free) in a matter of
> minutes.  We run three, and they have supported over 10k devices with zero
> problems for over 5 years.  It's not like ntpd is very resource intensive.

depends on how important time is to you, and it depends on how accurate you
want your time sources to be.  If the answer is "moderately" to both, then
a bog standard linux box with a pile of clients is just fine.  If "very",
then you probably want something more specialised with at least 3x stratum
0 units + a bunch of stratum 1 front-ends.  Your requirements for this sort
of thing will normally depend on your legal requirements for accurate
timekeeping, but many companies opt for something in-between.

Bear it in mind that your internally built service is also not free.
Everything costs: servers, time, electricity, cabling for antennae,
configuration, ongoing administration, etc.  Every time I run 5-year TCO
analysis for this sort of thing, the base capex of the equipment usually
comes in as a surprisingly small percentage - but YMMV.

Nick