3com 4210 PWR 9-Port 3CR17341-91-ME ユーザーズマニュアル

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3CR17341-91-ME
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NTP C
ONFIGURATION
Introduction to NTP
Network time protocol (NTP) is a time synchronization protocol defined in RFC 
1305. It is used for time synchronization between a set of distributed time servers 
and clients. Carried over UDP, NTP transmits packets through UDP port 123.
NTP is intended for time synchronization between all devices that have clocks in a 
network so that the clocks of all devices can keep consistent. Thus, the devices can 
provide multiple unified-time-based applications (See “Applications of NTP” ).
A local system running NTP can not only be synchronized by other clock sources, 
but also serve as a clock source to synchronize other clocks. Besides, it can 
synchronize, or be synchronized by other systems by exchanging NTP messages.
Applications of NTP
As setting the system time manually in a network with many devices leads to a lot 
of workload and cannot ensure accuracy, it is unfeasible for an administrator to 
perform the operation. However, an administrator can synchronize the clocks of 
devices in a network with required accuracy by performing NTP configuration.
NTP is mainly applied to synchronizing the clocks of all devices in a network. For 
example:
In network management, the analysis of the log information and debugging 
information collected from different devices is meaningful and valid only when 
network devices that generate the information adopts the same time.
The billing system requires that the clocks of all network devices be consistent.
Some functions, such as restarting all network devices in a network 
simultaneously require that they adopt the same time.
When multiple systems cooperate to handle a rather complex transaction, they 
must adopt the same time to ensure a correct execution order.
To perform incremental backup operations between a backup server and a 
host, you must make sure they adopt the same time.
NTP has the following advantages:
Defining the accuracy of clocks by stratum to synchronize the clocks of all 
devices in a network quickly
Sending protocol packets in unicast, multicast, or broadcast mode
The clock stratum determines the accuracy, which ranges from 1 to 16. The 
stratum of a reference clock ranges from 1 to 15. The clock accuracy decreases