[ntp:questions] driftfile write frequency setting?

Brad Knowles brad at stop.mail-abuse.org
Mon Jul 25 08:15:43 UTC 2005


At 10:14 PM -0700 2005-07-24, Devin Bayer wrote:

>  Hello.  I would like my laptop's HDD to go to sleep, but ntpd writes
>  it's driftfile hourly.  If there anyway I can make it only write the
>  file daily, or only when it quits?

	I think that this would require a source code modification.


	Moreover, writing only once an hour should not be excessively 
onerous, even for a laptop.  Yes, it will spin the hard drive down 
when it's not being used, but a laptop hard drive should be in use 
frequently enough that a single additional data write in a one hour 
period of time should not be noticeable.

	If this is not the case for you, you might want to look into an 
alternative storage mechanism for the driftfile -- perhaps a 
SecureDigital or CompactFlash card in a PCMCIA card reader that is 
plugged into the laptop.  It should be easy enough to change the 
storage location of the driftfile as specified in your /etc/ntp.conf.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

   SAGE member since 1995.  See <http://www.sage.org/> for more info.



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