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RNP starts implanting the hierarchy for NTP services

Through its Security Incident Response Team (CAIS), RNP started implanting the Network Time Protocol (NTP) server hierarchy. This hierarchy has the function of distributing the processing load, guaranteeing a stabler and more reliable service to the final user.

NTP servers are fundamental for network management, for they permit synchronizing the clocks of the hooked equipment according to a reference accepted worldwide, known as UTC (Universal Time Coordinated). At the final end, the user is sure that the site he is accessing is telling the right time, which is crucial, for instance, to those who put off paying their bills through the Internet until the last minute. That happens, of course, if the server of the site being accessed makes use of an NTP service.

The service offered by RNP since July is directly connected to a reference clock, a high precision mechanism. The reference clock used is a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. A group of satellites follows the movements of revolution and tranlation of the Earth and sends information to an antenna installed in RNP's Point of Presence in Brasília. Due to the use of this technology, the NTP server installed in the capital of the country is classified as a stratum 1 server. The servers using RNP's server as a reference will be considered stratum 2 servers and so on.

Nowadays, there are few NTP stratum 2 servers installed in the country, and, most of the times, there is not an organized hierarchy nor a defined access policy. The hierarchy that the CAIS is starting to implement anticipates that the following institutions/units will host a stratum 2 server connecting themselves to RNP's stratum 1 server:

• RNP's Support Units;
• RNP's Points of Presence;
• State Networks;
• any other network with technical capacity and that can reach a significant community of users.

These institutions/units shall permit the creation of NTP stratum 3 servers in the client networks. The access policy for the servers connected to RNP is being formulated by the CAIS. More information can be obtained by writing to the e-mail cais@cais.rnp.br.

[RNP, 03.11.2001]