NIST Time
Synchronizing your network with NIST time?
Many organizations today understand the value of accurate network timekeeping. By synchronizing all the servers, desktops and other devices on a network to the same time, organizations help the multitude of business transactions that rely on accurate timekeeping to continue operating smoothly. Yet some companies may be inadvertently compromising their security as they synchronize their network. Many organizations use NIST time as a source for timekeeping. NIST time is a service from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and allows users to synchronize computer clocks over the Internet. Supporting several popular time protocols, including NTP, NIST time is directly traceable to Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. But because synchronizing to the NIST time source requires that firewall port 123 be left open for communications, security can be compromised. The open port may invite spoofing and hackers, and since there is no authentication of NIST time, malicious tampering of time is also a possibility. For a more secure solution to network timekeeping, consider the NTP solutions from Symmetricom.
Symmetricom delivers more secure alternatives to NIST Time
Symmetricom's leading network time servers provide the highest level of accuracy in network timekeeping without exposing the enterprise to security risks. Instead of using NIST time, these time servers use an integrated 12-channel GPS receiver to derive time directly from the GPS satellite system. This allows organizations to get highly accurate time without needing to leave a firewall port open. When a GPS signal is not available, the server can revert to Stratum 2 mode and retrieve time from another time server. It can also be outfitted with a Rubidium atomic oscillator that keeps accurate time to within 25 microseconds per day if the GPS signal is lost. Symmetricom time servers are extremely easy to use and can be brought online in just minutes. Multiple NTP ports provide greater flexibility to adapt to changes in the network, and high bandwidth and high performance features allow the server to deliver time to hundreds of thousands of network clients. Symmetricom's time servers deliver a truly powerful alternative to synchronizing a network with NIST time.
Symmetricom's time servers help mitigate dangers of poor timekeeping
When network time is inaccurate, data can be lost, processes can fail, log file time stamps can be wrong, systems can be disrupted, and legal exposure can result. Ultimately, timekeeping is about maintaining the credibility of the company in the eyes of customers and partners, and Symmetricom's NTP time servers and other synchronization solutions allow the enterprise to do that easily and cost-efficiently.
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