Dell EMC SmartFabric OS10 User Guide Release 10.5.0

Network Time Protocol (NTP) synchronizes timekeeping among a set of distributed time servers and clients. The protocol coordinates time distribution in a large, diverse network. NTP clients synchronize with NTP servers that provide accurate time measurement. NTP clients choose from several NTP servers to determine which offers the best available source of time and the most reliable transmission of information.

To get the correct time, OS10 synchronizes with a time-serving host. For the current time, you can set the system to poll specific NTP time-serving hosts. From those time-serving hosts, the system chooses one NTP host to synchronize with and acts as a client to the NTP host. After the host-client relationship establishes, the networking device propagates the time information throughout its local network.

The NTP client sends messages to one or more servers and processes the replies as received. Information in the NTP message allows each client/server peer to determine the timekeeping characteristics of its other peers, including the expected accuracies of their clocks. Using this information, each peer selects the best time from several other clocks, updates the local clock, and estimates its accuracy.