Re: setup a local ntp server on debian

[gcrimp@vcn.bc.ca]

On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 02:58:59PM -0500, Israel Garcia wrote:
> We've been increasing in numbers of debian lenny servers and they has
> a cron.hourly as follow:
> 
> #!/bin/bash
> /usr/sbin/ntpdate -u swisstime.ethz.ch
> 
> We're planning to setup our NTP's servers only to serve our local
> boxes. I've some questions for you:

I recently set up an ntp server.  It is one of the easiest
protocols I've set up.  Here are some links that I found
useful when researching ntp:

http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/WebHome
http://geodsoft.com/howto/timesync/
http://www.pool.ntp.org/

This isn't all I looked at but it should get 
you started.


> 
> 1. Which do you suggest to use? openntpd or ntp server?

I used ntp.

> 2. Can I setup redundancy with any of them?

I think that is a fundamental principal of 
the protocol.

> 3. What client should I use to synchronize other boxes clock? ntpdate
> command  or ntp daemon client?

I used ntp on all the boxes.  The box that serves as 
the server for my LAN gets it time from an ntp pool 
of servers.  So it is acting as both client as server 
without any additional setup.  Of course this means 
that there is no redundancy locally.  Local 
redundancy is possible, but my reading lead me to
conclude that for my purposes, it was not necessary.  

I used netselect to figure out which pool would give 
me the best average response time over many tries on 
three different occasions.

> 4. Should I use a local NTP or do you suggest all client synchronize
> to an external server?

Some of the docs above helped my decide that setting up a local
server provided adequate synchronization.  No need to burden remote
servers to make questionable gains in clock accuracy.