[ntp:questions] "ntpd -q" is slow compared to ntpdate

Richard B. Gilbert rgilbert88 at comcast.net
Thu Oct 16 21:55:55 UTC 2008


Harlan Stenn wrote:
> It seems to me a topic related to initially getting the time set on a box is
> the ability to determine the 'synchronization status' of ntpd.
> 
> Toward that end, http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Dev/NtpdsSyncStatus has
> been created.
> 
> I'd appreciate folks taking a look at that page, commenting and discussing
> the issues.

"Do we care about root dispersion?"

As I understand it, "root dispersion" is the difference between my clock 
and the atomic clock at the root.  If my understanding is correct, I 
think we do care about it.  If the absolute value is greater than about 
100 microseconds I would begin to be concerned.  Others might choose 
some other value.

It's probably worth noting that some people care about the correct time 
while others only care that all their clocks are within a few 
milliseconds of each other.




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