SyncServer NTP System Test

The SyncServer S600 network time server is purpose built to deliver exact hardware-based Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precise Time Protocol (PTP) timestamps. NTP is a fault-tolerant, highly scalable time protocol that is used for synchronizing computer clocks in a network by using a designated reference clock. NTP uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to synchronize computer clock times with extreme precision and greater accuracy. The reference clocks must be accurately following some time standard. NTP will compute some additional statistical values based on the current time reported by the reference clock, which will describe the quality of time it displays. Accurate time synchronization between the target time server and its peers is vital for many reasons such as authentication, data consistency, security, compliance, backup, etc. A discrepancy of even a fraction of a second can cause problems in their proper functioning. This is why, administrators should continuously monitor the target time server and find out if the time variance exceeds the permissible range. The SyncServer NTP System test can help administrators in this regard!

This test continuously monitors the target time server and reports whether the leap second should be added or subtracted. This enables the administrators to proactively do necessary adjustments, if required. This test also reports the stratum level of the target time server using which administrators can know its current hierarchy ranking and instantly determine whether the server is at a lower stratum level than its peers. The lower stratum level indicates that the target server is accurately synchronized with the primary reference time source. In addition, this test alerts administrators to poor accuracy (if any) by reporting the precision of the target server. In the process, this test also reports the root delay and root dispersion to help the administrators assess the quality and reliability of the target server.

Target of the test : SyncServer

Agent deploying the test : An external agent

Outputs of the test : One set of the results for the target SyncServer that is being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed

Host

The IP address of the host for which this test is to be configured.

SNMPPort

The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default is 161.

SNMPVersion

By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

SNMPCommunity

The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the firewall. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

Username

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter. 

Context

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVERSION. An SNMP context is a collection of management information accessible by an SNMP entity. An item of management information may exist in more than one context and an SNMP entity potentially has access to many contexts. A context is identified by the SNMPEngineID value of the entity hosting the management information (also called a contextEngineID) and a context name that identifies the specific context (also called a contextName). If the Username provided is associated with a context name, then the eG agent will be able to poll the MIB and collect metrics only if it is configured with the context name as well. In such cases therefore, specify the context name of the Username in the Context text box.  By default, this parameter is set to none.

AuthPass

Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.

Confirm Password

Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.

AuthType

This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm
  • SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit
  • SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit
  • SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit
  • SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

EncryptFlag

This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option. 

EncryptType

If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard
  • 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard
  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
  • AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit
  • AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit
  • AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

EncryptPassword

Specify the encryption password here.

Confirm Password

Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.

Timeout

Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.

EngineID

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Data Over TCP

By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

Detailed Diagnosis

To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
  • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Leap indicator

Indicates whether an impending leap second is to be added or subtracted in the last minute of the current day.

 

The table below indicates the values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric equivalents:

Measure value Numeric Value
No warning 0
Add second 1
Subtract second 2
Alarm 3

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the impending leap. However, in the graph of this measure, the status of each fan will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

Stratum level

Indicates the current hierarchical ranking of the target server.

 

The table below indicates the values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric equivalents:

Measure value Numeric Value
Hardware clock 0
Primary server 1
Secondary server 2
Unsynchronized/
Unreachable		 3

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the current hierarchical ranking of the target server. However, in the graph of this measure, the status of each fan will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

System mode

Indicates the current operational mode in which target server is configured to function.

 

The table below indicates the values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric equivalents:

Measure value Numeric Value
Unspecified 0
Symmetric active 1
Symmetric passive 2
Client 3
Server 4
Broadcast 5
Control 6
Private 7
Broadcast client 8

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-mentioned Measure Values while indicating the current hierarchical level. However, in the graph of this measure, the status of each fan will be represented using the corresponding numeric equivalents only.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the version of NTP, version of the target SyncServer, status of module slots (A and B) of the SyncServer, and name of the optional network module.

Precision

Indicates the current precision of the target server.

Number

Ideally, the value of this measure should be very low or zero.

A higher value indicates that the accuracy or stability of the clock is poor.

Root delay

Indicates the round-trip delay between the primary reference time source and the target server or peer from which the NTP packet is received.

Milliseconds

Ideally, the value of this measure should be very low.

A lower value for this measure generally indicates a more accurate and reliable time source. Lower delay values suggest that the target server or peer is closer to the primary reference time source, and the time information it provides is likely to be more precise.

Root dispersion

Indicates the maximum amount of time variance measured between the target server and its primary time source.

Milliseconds

Ideally, the value of this measure should be very low.

A higher value for this measure indicates that the time source is not reliable and accurate.

NTP system packets received

Indicates the number of NTP system packets received by the target server since its last restart.

Packets