Timing is an interesting component of the modern telecommunication and IT equation. Although networks often don’t need timing anymore to stay operational (in the past networks couldn’t function without proper and impeccable timing), the applications on the edge of the network still do. This is especially true if you are dealing with GPS or 5G connections and technology. Many organizations aren’t aware of this and find it hard to deal with time issues because the knowledge of traditional network people isn’t there anymore.
The reality is that network time-servers regularly play a crucial role in solving common, often complex network issues related to time synchronisation and accuracy of timestamps on devices and systems within a network. But how do network time-servers get the job done? And what are the most important issues that they can address and solve? You read it in this article.
A network time-server reads the actual time from a reference clock and distributes this information to clients using a computer network. This not only allows users to synchronize clocks and devices, but also to maintain accurate timestamps. Network time-servers are a valuable ally when you have to address and solve pressing network issues that (threaten to) disrupt your business and IT and telecommunication services. Let’s take a closer look at the problem-solving capabilities of network time-servers and the major network issues that they help remediate.
Certain events call for extremely precise timing. Prime examples are data logging, transaction timestamps, and event correlation. In certain trading environments, dealing and making transactions are only allowed within a very strict window of time. If your timing is off, you lose out on business or may even lose your trading license. When all your devices and applications have perfectly synchronized clocks, you can prevent these issues from occurring.
Maintaining data integrity and security is essential for every company in the modern day and age, especially since many countries and big geopolitical entities (the EU, the United States) have tightened their rules and frameworks for privacy and data protection. Accurate timestamps are essential for data integrity and security and help in ensuring that data is processed in the correct order. They also make sure that logs accurately reflect the sequence of events.
Many security protocols and systems heavily rely on accurate time for authentication and authorization purposes. If the clocks on devices are not synchronised, authentication failures and security vulnerabilities may occur. Some identity and access management systems require that your time and network time are exactly on par with each other. A time difference of just a couple of seconds? You won’t get in! Network time-servers tackle this problem effectively by providing precise synchronization.
Various industries (for example the world of finance) and regulatory bodies have compliance requirements that mandate accurate time synchronization. For example, financial institutions may have to adhere to strict timestamp accuracy for transaction records. MiFID II, a piece of European legislation, obliges financial institutions to meet very stringent timing requirements for bank trading activities in and with the EU. Finance companies and banks must also be able to prove that they meet these requirements. Network time-servers make it easier to achieve these goals and safeguard compliance on all company levels.
Network time-servers assist in accurate logging and auditing of network activities. When logs from various devices have synchronized timestamps, it's easier to correlate events, troubleshoot issues, and track unauthorized activities across the network.
When network issues occur, having synchronized time across devices often aids in troubleshooting. Network administrators can compare logs from different devices to identify the sequence of events leading to an issue, helping them pinpoint the root cause more efficiently.
Expanding application landscapes and the rise of AI and IoT mean that companies nowadays generate and move more data than ever before. Bad timing chokes the ability to move data in a fast and reliable fashion. Network time-servers offer the timing and synchronization that you need to move data through networks as fast as possible.
In distributed systems, it's essential that data operations are time-ordered correctly to prevent data loss or corruption. Data loss or corruption can have grave consequences. Cyber criminals might steal sensitive or business-critical information that is subsequently sold on the dark web, leaving you behind with reputation damage and heavy fines. Accurate time synchronization ensures that data replication, backups, and failover mechanisms function correctly, significantly lowering the risk of data loss.
Some security attacks, like replay attacks, rely on the manipulation of timestamps and open ports within your network. Accurate time synchronization makes it more difficult for attackers to execute these types of attacks.
In some cases, network time-servers can help optimize network performance by ensuring that devices are synchronized for coordinated tasks. Correct timing also helps you reduce latency in certain applications. Optimizing network performance is important, since performance problems such as reduced bandwidth (often an early indicator and the first symptom of timing problems) and a loss of efficiency sometimes make it necessary to temporarily switch off sites, resulting in downtime and loss of revenue.
Network time-servers help you buy time when a network issue arises. If the timing still works and a network issue arises on Friday evening, you have the time to solve a network issue on Monday without losing out big time on performance. A good example is a real-world case that involved GPS satellites. The U.S. Naval Observatory had to deal with an issue that affected the control room (imagine a room full of blinking red lights), but due to resilient timing and networking overall network performance and operationality weren’t compromised.
The need for the efficient use of renewable energy has given rise to smart power grid infrastructures. Properly balancing and mapping the input, output, and the power that people bring back into the energy network calls for accurate time synchronization. Only then can you guarantee the highest possible level of precision and reliability. Accurate synchronization helps accelerate a broad range of smart grid operations, such as fault detection and network clearing, synchrophasor measurement to monitor network stability, sequence of event time stamping, data acquisition, demand side management (DSM), differential protection, and frequency deviation measurements. Network time-servers have the potential to play an important role in proper smart grid management.
Open ports are a common network issue and the cause of many intrusions. Leaving an open port in your firewall is like having a hole in the wall of your house. It is an open invitation for attackers looking to infiltrate your network in their search for valuable data. Network time-servers provide accurate time delivery, allowing you to close the gaps in your firewall and strengthen your security posture.
Are you looking for a partner that is tried and tested in the world of precision timing and network time-servers? With our extensive toolbox of hardware and software solutions we are able to deliver traceable time, ensure the source of time is secure, and maintain and monitor that traceability and security as networks and applications evolve. Even if the source of your timing was not supplied and installed by Chronos, we have the capability, and the standing within the industry, to certify your timing dissemination network is fit for purpose.
Our extensive technical knowledge and industry experience allows us to help you overcome network and timing issues. A combination of services and support from Chronos and the latest generation of timing hardware and software (SiteTime, CentreTime, CityTime, TrustedTime) delivers all the tools to provide accurate time synchronization solutions. Due to our experience with ever-improving high-quality optical fiber networks, we are also able to tackle network issues that are the result of weak or interrupted (accidentally or deliberately) GPS signals.
Would you like to harness the power of network time-servers to address and solve potentially problematic networking issues? And would you like to find out more about Chronos and our solutions and services? Then feel free to contact us. Give us a call at +44 (0) 1594 862200, send an email to sales@chronos.uk or fill out the contact form on our website.