[ntp:questions] Re: Mother Of All Clocks

mayer at gis.net mayer at gis.net
Fri Mar 25 22:15:47 UTC 2005


----- Original Message Follows -----
> At 10:25 PM +0100 2005-03-25, Mxsmanic wrote:
> 
> >>  Sheesh!  What kind of client needs that sort of time security?
> >
> >  Anyone who requires tight synchronization or closely-spaced,
> >  accurate timestamps ... anyone who is currently using NTP,
> >  presumably (otherwise why is he using NTP?).
> 
>     Telcos use NTP to keep their SONET rings tightly synchronized. 
> If they don't all sorts of really horrible things can happen to the 
> telco-specific communications protocols that no one outside of the 
> telco business ever sees.
> 
>     NTP is also frequently used in satellite equipment.  You wouldn't 
> want to lose a multi-billion dollar piece of electronics because it 
> didn't have it's antenna aimed the right direction at the right time, 
> and at the kinds of speeds satellites are moving, being just a few 
> milliseconds off could mean many, many miles of distance.
> 
>     Radio and television also frequently use NTP.  The issue of good 
> time sync is something that they have understood for many years, and 
> time code is integral to International standards in these areas.
> 
> 
>     Basically, anything to do with communications is more or less 
> dependant on having good time sync.  The more mission-critical that 
> communication, the more important it is to have good time sync.
> 

And then the military heavily. You wouldn't want that bomb to hit
your house when the bad guys are next door?

> 
>     Now, when it comes to logs, they are a vital component to piecing 
> together the sequence of events, when it comes to things like 
> detecting break-ins or trying to work out how someone got in, where 
> they came from, etc....
> 
>     If you knowingly log incorrect data which hampers an 
> investigation, you might be held criminally liable for that.  Think 
> Sarbanes-Oxley.

SOX is nothing compared to your shareholders screaming for your blood
because your transactions were a few milliseconds too late. The SWIFT
network moves Trillions of dollars through its network, yes TRILLIONS,
every day. A slight error in time has enormous repercussions.

Danny

> 
> -- 
> 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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