GPS Time Servers for Network Time Synchronization

Synchronizing time is crucial for any network - from logging events and transactions to improving the consistency and accuracy of time throughout your network.  Many devices on a network have the ability to be a time server, but are they all created equal?  No, definitely not.

With many devices on a network that all show the time, how can you tell what the "right" time is and how can synchronized and accurate time be served throughout my network?  Some networks rely on a public time server, from NIST or ntp.pool.org to serve time.  However, using a public time server comes with several caveats, including questions of network security, reliability if the internet goes down, and accuracy with latency of external network transmissions.  Some networks may use a single device within the network as its reference time source to solve the issue of synchronization, but that does not ensure accuracy with a reliable time source.  Since time is at the center of your network, accuracy, reliability, and synchronization are critical.  TimeMachines has two Stratum 1 GPS network time servers that solve the common issues with accuracy, reliability, and time synchronization within a network.

So how does a GPS time server work?  Satellites from the Global Positioning System orbit the Earth and carry very stable atomic clocks.  Each satellite continuously transmits an RF signal with time and position information.  The TimeMachines GPS network time server has an antenna to receive the time and position information from multiple GPS satellites that orbit the Earth to calculate time with sub-millisecond accuracy.  Then, depending on the time server, either NTP or PTP network timing protocols are used to distribute that time to the various clients throughout your network.  Not only is such a high level of accuracy possible with a GPS server, but it also achieves time synchronization throughout your network without security or reliability concerns.