Network Time Foundation

Network Time Foundation (NTF) Network Time Foundation was founded in 2011 by Harlan Stenn in an effort to provide direct services and improve the state of accurate computer network timekeeping for the general community, and received its non-profit public benefit 501(c)(3) status in July, 2014.^[1]

NTF has brought several Network Time Open Source Software projects together to focus on accurate timekeeping for computers and other devices, usually those that are networked or are otherwise communicating together. A core belief at NTF is that correct time on a computer is crucial to properly sequencing and knowing when events happen. Network Time Foundation provides tools that keep correct time, driving standards with the IETF for time keeping, and educating the public on the importance of correct time.

About

Network Time Foundation (NTF) is focused on supporting the efforts of synchronizing computer time, via protocol development and definition, software, and documentation. Well-kept and synchronized time builds trust in people and organizations regarding the accuracy and reliability of their operations.

NTF’s projects and efforts help computers and devices on different networks to effectively share resources and information, thus reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and synchronizing time data across interacting systems. The synchronization of time data ensures reliable and accurate timestamps. Without the correct synchronization of network time, performing analysis, audits, investigative efforts, and other studies that require piecing together correct sequences of events based on timestamps would be impossible.

The goal of NTF is to provide direct services and support to improve the accuracy and reliability of computer network timekeeping. Toward this end, NTF leverages the collaborative strengths and emergent properties that derive from having several similar (but not identical) projects share information and resources to provide exceptional quality and value. Support of NTF’s mission is manifested in the provision of the financial and material resources required by Project Managers to accomplish the goals of their projects. The goals of these projects are to provide accurate time for applications that are used by people for safety, financial, defense, scientific, educational, health, and other purposes.

Network Time Foundation received non-profit status in 2014.^[2]

OSU Open Source Labs hosts NTF’s core infrastructure on virtual machines.^[3]

Funding

NTF is funded by individual members, corporate/institutional consortium memberships, donations of money and equipment, grants and sponsorships. For example, The Linux Foundation awarded NTF’s NTP project a year-long grant as part of its Core Internet Infrastructure campaign.^[4]

In June 2011 the Network Time Protocol (NTP) Project joined NTF. Subsequently, other notable project efforts including Precision Time Protocol daemon (PTPd), the Linux PTP Project, RADclock, and GPS daemon (GPSD) joined the collaboration. The NTP, PTPd, Linux PTP, and RADclock projects focus on different ways to synchronize clocks across networks. GPSD provides a robust and reliable way to communicate with satellite time servers, and provide shared access to received time and location data.

In 2013 NTF started the General Timestamp Project with the goal of providing a way to create and use timestamps that contain enough information to be useful beyond the system time and place where they were generated.

NTF Projects

NTP Project

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) Project is one of the longest-running efforts on the Internet, and a proud project of the Network Time Foundation.^[5] It has been in operation since 1985. The NTP Project was created to keep the clocks synchronized and correct on computers in a network. It is now in constant use on tens of millions of computers around the world. It is even used to synchronize the clocks in space vehicles to keep them in agreement with Earth-based clocks.^[6] Part of the mission of the Network Time Foundation is to pursue Linux Development of the Network Time Protocol. Network Time Protocol was recently featured on Fox News, "The Man Who Keeps America on Time".^[7] Network Time Protocol is an Affiliated Project hosted by ISC.^[8]

Precision Time Protocol (PTP)

The Precision Time Protocol specification is defined by the IEEE 1588 standards.^[9] It was created to provide precise time coordination of LAN-connected computers. NTF currently has two PTP-related projects, PTPd and Linux PTP.

Precision Time Protocol daemon (PTPd)

The Precision Time Protocol daemon (PTPd) Project is a complete implementation of the IEEE 1588 specification for non-boundary clocks. It has been deployed and tested for work and been found to be portable, comprehensive, interoperable, and stable. PTPd is an open-source software program that is free for use, published under the BSD license.

Linux PTP Project

The Linux PTP Project is a Linux-focused software implementation of the PTP specification that meets or exceeds the IEEE 1588 Standard. Its design goals are to provide the highest performance levels of the PTP Standard on the latest versions of the Linux kernel.^[10]

RADclock

The RADclock project provides a new design for computer clocks and network timing. The project emphasizes the development of alternatives to NTP clients and servers based on new principles. RADclock is derived from the phrase ‘Robust Absolute and Difference Clock.’^[11]

GPSD

GPSD is a service daemon software program that monitors GPS or AIS satellite receivers attached to host computers via USB ports or serial ports. The data on the course/location/velocity of the sensors is provided on TCP port 2947, allowing for this data to be shared with client applications. GPSD is free software that is published under the BSD license.^[12]

General Timestamp API Project

Consider a computer printout with the note: “Water level checked at 12:03.” That’s a timestamp. Unfortunately, it’s not very useful timestamp. We don’t know the date. We don’t know if it means shortly after midnight or shortly after noon. We don’t know the time zone. We don’t know how long it has been since the clock used to get the timestamp was checked. We don’t know a good number of other things that matter, too.

The General Timestamp API project was created to foster the development, implementation and deployment of a new general timestamp. This project is focused on a new timestamp format that contains all the information a user needs.^[13] There are two parts to the General Timestamp project including the definition of the new timestamp structure and the implementation of an efficient portable library to use these new timestamps. The new timestamp will include time, known expected correction to true time, error measurements, the timescale being used,^[14] and other information. With this new timestamp structure and the new library, one could easily take a timestamp for an event that should happen in the year 2013 generated using a UTC timescale generated in the year 2000, and properly and precisely time the execution of that event, even though 3 leap seconds were added to the UTC timescale since the year 2000. As another example, scientists conducting experiments on Mars like to use a 24-hour Martian day, just like we use here on Earth. Yet, a day on Mars is about 39 minutes longer than a day on Earth. So each “Martian Second” is a bit longer than an “Earth Second”. We need to correlate events on Mars with events on Earth, where these timestamps use different timescales. The timestamp library would help convert timestamps for events that use “Martian Standard Time” to timestamps that used an earth-based timescale.

Additional Achievements

While continuing to grow, NTF has produced multiple professional papers and presentations.

• March 11, 2015, InformationWeek publishes, "NTP's Fate Hinges On 'Father Time'", exposing the precarious nature of NTP and Network Time Foundation, and making a case for broader support.^[15]
• February 4, 2015, NTP, in conjunction with Network Time Foundation and Google Security Team released a security patch to NTP Version 4.2.8p1.^[16]
• February 1, 2015, representing the Network Time Foundation, Harlan Stenn will speak at the FOSDEM 2015 Conference in a presentation titled, "NTF's General Timestamp API and Library."^[17]
• January 8, 2015, the Network Time Foundation was discussed in an article titled "Securing the Network Time Protocol: Crackers discover how to use NTP as a weapon for abuse." on the ACMQueue Newsletter.^[18]
• As of July 2014, Network Time Foundation was granted 501(c)(3) status as a charitable organization.
• In March 2014, Harlan Stenn was interviewed and quoted by the BBC in reference to the Heartbleed bug, hacking of the network timestamps, and the importance of hardening servers to prevent attack^[19] s.
• In January 2014, NTF was invited as a speaker at the AAS 2013 meeting^[20] where a paper was presented on Time, Timestamps and Timescales and how the General Timestamp Project can help.^[21]
• In May 2013, NTF was invited to present a paper on Time, Timestamps and Timescales^[22] at The Future of UTC conference.^[23]
• In 2013, Network Time Foundation established a Technical Advisory Board. Board members include David L. Mills,^[24] Steven M. Bellovin, Ph.D.,^[25] Judah Levine, Ph.D.,^[26] and Dieter Sibold, Ph.D.^[27]

Board of Directors

The current board of directors is responsible for oversight of the Network Time Foundation. There are currently five individuals on the board of directors.

• Harlan Stenn, Board Member and President^[28]
• Ray Everett, J.D., Board Member^[29]
• Brian Reid, Ph.D, Board Member^[30]
• Joel Sherrill, Ph.D, Board Member^[31]
• Eugene H. Spafford, Ph.D., Board Member^[32]

Future Projects

NTF is currently working on a Certification and Compliance Program, a Stratum-0 Consortium designed to foster collaboration and communications between each country’s National Time Services, and is continually fixing and adding new features to release NTP version 5. It’s also working on a web-based application to generate ntp.conf files, and a Paid Support Services offering.

Network Time Foundation is an enthusiastic participant in Google's Summer of Code.^[33]

See also

• File:Network_Time_Foundation_IRS_Form_990_2012.pdf

References

Network Time Foundation's Official Website