NetWare Directory Services

5-9
Understanding Time Synchronization in NDS
Time Servers
For optimal time synchronization, minimize the number of intervening
routers and slow LAN segments between Secondary time servers and their
Single Reference, Primary, or Reference time server.
Summary
The following table summarizes the types of time servers and their uses.
Type of Server Function Cautions
Single Reference
time server
Provides time to Secondary time
servers and client workstations.
Typically used for smaller LANs.
All servers must be able to contact
the Single Reference Time Server.
No Primary or Reference time
servers can be on the network.
Primary time server Polls and votes with other Primary
time servers to determine time, and
provides time to Secondary time
servers and client workstations.
Use with Reference time servers to
pass time to Secondary time servers
and client workstations.
Must be able to contact at least one
other Primary time server or a
Reference time server.
Reference time server Receives time from an external time
source and provides time to Primary
and Secondary time servers.
Use when it is important to have a
central point of control for time on
the network.
Typically, only one Reference time
server is installed on a network. If
there is more than one Reference
time server, each must be
synchronized with the same external
time source.
Secondary time server Receives time from a time source
server and provides time to client
workstations.
You can have a Secondary time
server contact another Secondary
time server to obtain the correct
time. However, if the intermediate
Secondary time server is
unavailable, servers that contact it
for the correct time might be too
many hops away from a time source
server to get synchronized.