Switch – NTP Server in Network Switch

hpnetworkingntpswitchtime-synchronization

Is it possible to set up a Switch to acts an NTP Server for the devices connected to its VLAN ?
If so ,how can I implement it my HP Switch A3600 JG299A.
I want to do this because I do not have external NTP Time Source for proper time synchronization.

Best Answer

Yes, this switch can act as an NTP server.

There are different ways to set it up, namely client/server, symmetric peers, multicast and broadcast modes. Most often you will likely set it up in a client/server mode. For this to work you need to set up NTP synchronization on the switch itself and then it can act as a server for other devices on your LAN.

For more information look for 3600 v2 Switch Series Network Management and Monitoring Configuration Guide on HP website. This document has a section explaining NTP configuration.

Related Solutions

Windows Server unable to synchronize NTP time reliably

Jeff, I found this article. Might be of some help to you. You might have already read this but I thought it was worth a shot.

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags
This registry entry controls whether the local computer is marked as a reliable time server (which is only possible if the previous registry entry is set to NTP as described above). Change this REG_DWORD value from 10 to 5 here.

UPDATE As per Jeff, best source of reference is http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816042

NTP – Synchronizing Time with Only One NTP Server

As Pawel has said, remove the local clock line in your ntp.conf. In fact, remove everything, pretty much. If you have a working, sync'ed NTP source on your local network that's willing to act as a server, then clients really only need one line in their ntp.conf, which should read

server ntp.intranet.example.com

or, for fastest syncing,

server ntp.intranet.example.com burst

(the latter puts more load on the server at service start time, but since it's your server, you can say "i permit that", if you want faster syncing at ntpd start time).

Don't forget to put ntp.intranet.example.com in /etc/ntp/step-tickers, or wherever your distro keeps that file, so the clocks of clients can be hard-synced at startup time.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows Server unable to synchronize NTP time reliably

NTP – Synchronizing Time with Only One NTP Server

Related Topic