Time server

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A time server is a server computer that reads the actual time from a reference clock and distributes this information to its clients using a computer network. The time server may be a local network time server or an internet time server.

The most important and widely-used protocol for distributing and synchronising time is the Network Time Protocol (NTP), though other less-popular or outdated time protocols continue in use.

The time reference used by a time server could be another time server on the network or the Internet, a connected radio clock or an atomic clock. The most common true time source is a GPS or GPS master clock. Time servers are sometimes multi-purpose network servers, dedicated network servers, or dedicated devices. All a dedicated time server does is provide accurate time.

An existing network server (e.g. a file server) can become a time server with additional software. The NTP homepage provides a free and widely-used reference implementation of the NTP server and client for many popular operating systems. The other choice is a dedicated time server device.

The term "stratum" is used to label the closeness to a central or high quality time server. The stratum indicates the place of a particular time server in a hierarchy of servers. The scale is 0 to 14 where 0 is the most accurate and likely a highly specialized physical hardware device. Some time clients will reject a time update from a server whose stratum is too high, and most will prefer low strata time sources to higher ones. This can be a pitfall for administrators setting up an in-house time server with no true time source.