so...I put a Time Server in my HomeLab
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In this video, I install a high-precision time server in my studio using the OpenTimeCard Mini from TimeBeat. Instead of relying on external Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers, I’m hosting my own time server to achieve nanosecond-level accuracy using Precision Time Protocol (PTP).
The OpenTimeCard Mini combines a GPS module that receives signals from satellites equipped with atomic clocks and a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) acting as the server. This setup allows me to synchronize all the clocks on my network with unprecedented precision.
Additional Information:
• The Birth of Atomic Clocks: The first practical atomic clock was developed in 1955 by Louis Essen at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. By 1967, the second was redefined based on the vibrations of cesium atoms, marking a significant leap in timekeeping accuracy.
• GPS Satellites and Timekeeping: The Global Positioning System (GPS) began with the launch of its first satellite in 1978. These satellites carry atomic clocks that provide precise time signals, revolutionizing navigation and global time synchronization.
• Understanding NTP Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol (NTP) dynamically adjusts its synchronization intervals, typically ranging from 64 to 1,024 seconds, to maintain accurate time across devices connected to the internet.
• Time Zones and Global Standardization: The concept of standardized time zones was proposed by Sir Sandford Fleming in 1879. The 1884 International Meridian Conference endorsed these time zones, paving the way for the global timekeeping system we use today.
• Raspberry Pi and Hardware Timestamping: While the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) allows for hardware timestamping through additional network interfaces, the standard Raspberry Pi 4 does not support this feature on its built-in Ethernet port. The new Raspberry Pi 5 introduces hardware timestamping support directly on its Ethernet interface.
• Why Nanosecond Accuracy Matters: Industries such as financial trading, where transactions happen in fractions of a second, rely heavily on precise time synchronization. Broadcasting and aerospace also require this level of accuracy to ensure seamless operations.
Further Reading and Resources:
• TimeBeat’s OpenTimeCard Mini: store.timebeat...
• TimeBeat Software: www.timebeat.a...
• Understanding Precision Time Protocol (PTP): www.timebeat.a...
• History of Timekeeping: www.timebeat.a...
• Quartz Crystal Oscillators Explained: www.timebeat.a...
• Atomic Clocks and GPS Technology: www.timebeat.a...
• Raspberry Pi Hardware Capabilities: www.timebeat.a...
• Network Time Protocol (NTP) Details: www.timebeat.a...
• Global Standard Time Zones: www.timebeat.a...
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1. How to set up a nanosecond-level time server using TimeBeat’s OpenTimeCard
2. Achieving precise time synchronization with Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
3. Installing a GPS-based time server with Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4
4. Understanding the difference between NTP and PTP for network timekeeping
5. Configuring TimeBeat software for nanosecond accuracy
6. Implementing hardware timestamping for ultra-precise timing
7. Step-by-step guide to setting up a Stratum 1 NTP server
8. Using GPS antennas for optimal time server reception
9. Exploring the history of timekeeping-from sundials to atomic clocks
10. Why nanosecond-level synchronization is crucial in financial trading
#ptp #timeserver
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In this video, I install a high-precision time server in my studio using the OpenTimeCard Mini from TimeBeat. Instead of relying on external Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers, I’m hosting my own time server to achieve nanosecond-level accuracy using Precision Time Protocol (PTP).
The OpenTimeCard Mini combines a GPS module that receives signals from satellites equipped with atomic clocks and a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) acting as the server. This setup allows me to synchronize all the clocks on my network with unprecedented precision.
Additional Information:
If you’re intrigued by the fascinating world of time synchronization and want to delve deeper, here are some interesting insights and resources:
• The Precision of Quartz Clocks: Modern quartz crystal oscillators are remarkably accurate, typically drifting about 15 seconds per month. While factors like temperature and aging can affect them, advancements have significantly minimized these deviations.
• The Birth of Atomic Clocks: The first practical atomic clock was developed in 1955 by Louis Essen at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK. By 1967, the second was redefined based on the vibrations of cesium atoms, marking a significant leap in timekeeping accuracy.
• GPS Satellites and Timekeeping: The Global Positioning System (GPS) began with the launch of its first satellite in 1978. These satellites carry atomic clocks that provide precise time signals, revolutionizing navigation and global time synchronization.
• Understanding NTP Synchronization: The Network Time Protocol (NTP) dynamically adjusts its synchronization intervals, typically ranging from 64 to 1,024 seconds, to maintain accurate time across devices connected to the internet.
• Time Zones and Global Standardization: The concept of standardized time zones was proposed by Sir Sandford Fleming in 1879. The 1884 International Meridian Conference endorsed these time zones, paving the way for the global timekeeping system we use today.
• Hardware Timestamping in Networking: Hardware timestamping captures the exact moment a network packet is sent or received, allowing for nanosecond-level precision. This is essential for applications requiring extremely accurate time synchronization, like PTP.
• Raspberry Pi and Hardware Timestamping: While the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) allows for hardware timestamping through additional network interfaces, the standard Raspberry Pi 4 does not support this feature on its built-in Ethernet port. The new Raspberry Pi 5 introduces hardware timestamping support directly on its Ethernet interface.
• Why Nanosecond Accuracy Matters: Industries such as financial trading, where transactions happen in fractions of a second, rely heavily on precise time synchronization. Broadcasting and aerospace also require this level of accuracy to ensure seamless operations.
Further Reading and Resources:
• TimeBeat’s OpenTimeCard Mini: store.timebeat.app/collections/all
• TimeBeat Software: www.timebeat.app/solutions/
• Understanding Precision Time Protocol (PTP): www.timebeat.app/blog/sync-showdown-ntp-vs-ptp-vs-tsn-vs-ethercat
• History of Timekeeping: www.timebeat.app/blog/timekeeping-history-and-technology
• Quartz Crystal Oscillators Explained: www.timebeat.app/blog/quartz-crystal-oscillators
• Atomic Clocks and GPS Technology: www.timebeat.app/blog/atomic-clocks-gps-timing
• Raspberry Pi Hardware Capabilities: www.timebeat.app/raspberry-pi-hardware-capabilities
• Network Time Protocol (NTP) Details: www.timebeat.app/blog/sync-showdown-ntp-vs-ptp
• Global Standard Time Zones: www.timebeat.app/blog/global-time-zones
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first clock invented by muslim
I've seen people use water clocks for real. Burma, now Myanmar, they were using a water clock as part of the process for making gold leaf. You have to hammer the bundle for as long as the clock which was floating (with a hole) until it sank. Then someone else got to hammer.
Just wait until he starts synchronizing his lunch breaks with atomic clocks
Now I have a guide on how to synchronize my coffee poops
Don't you mean "coffee breaks"
@@dromerdev procedure for buying atomic clock require government perrmision
My second role beside IT role is Time center techinican,im so happy that someone talk about how much time measuring is mindblowing.
and the fact that 1ft is about 1ns so you need cm accurate GPS for these time servers.
20 years ago I was running Stratum 1 servers in my data centers throughout the US for database cluster synchronization. Also, for data replication to my offshore data centers. They were very expensive. Its good to see tech has brought the size and cost down to the homelab.
That history lesson was amazing
The history is interesting. It started with railways. That was a huge influence on Einstein, and you get a flavour as well from these sorts of set ups and syncing. How do you sync when the signals take time?
Unless you're needing precise scientific timing, or are in FinTech, NTP is more than enough for most people. If your network hierarchy is pretty small and flat, you don't even need your own NTP server - it's just added complication. Just setup DHCP to have everything sync to a specific NTP server, like NIST's. I run NTP servers for the enterprises I administer, but that's because there's thousands of servers and tens of thousands of client. It's a multi-level NTP setup for Win and Linux systems. When you have this many hosts, you'll want internal NTP. If you run a handful of hosts on a small network, you don't need your own NTP.
And if you want a bit more accuracy connect to a stratum 1 server.
The USAF spent a week explaining Rubidium and Cesium clocks to me but this was way more fun. Watching you realize that your antenna needed to be outside or in clear view of the sky was pretty funny. Good stuff Chuck.
Small correction, crystals don't inherently vibrate at that frequency, crystals are just "electromechanical" clocks, their cut and size and mass determines the frequency, which is very stable, and they can be tuned to extreme accuracy and with electronics, that accuracy and stability can be turned into very good clocks and other frequency references. :)
32768hz was chosen because you can divide it in many ways by 2^n, so binary counting systems can keep track of a second by measuring 2^n ticks of that clock. :)
Geezus... That's a frikken $1200 board + $70 for the CM4 adapter + $120 for the CM4 + $80 for the antenna. Cool info, but that's a hard pass from me.
After 15 minutes and 3 commercials, he realizes he has to put the GPS antenna outside ????
Occasionally people get lucky and have a roof that doesn't totally destroy the signal, but that isn't always the case.
He is a TH-cam content creator, therefore has to string out his videos so they are long enough to contain multiple ads including the COMPULSORY NordVPN ad.....
Because he's an i_di*t.
Chuck's background is rooted in IT. If he's not dealt with System Time & Synchronization Issues, or RF/Microwave Signal Propagation, I suspect the GPS Signal Issues may simply be outside his 'wheelhouse.'
Working in the Telecom Industry for the past +25-years, BITS Clocks & Synchronization is a daily concern for both voice & data traffic, across the network. If we loose our primary timing source (Stratum 1), which is typically our local GPS Receiver (with an outdoor antenna), we'll fallback to our secondary timing source (Stratum 2), which is a fiber-fed Signal from a remotely located Stratum 1 Timing Source.
Suffice to say, these days Timing & Synchronization is crucial, for network elements to work in concert with one another. Free-running equipment will eventually lead to chaos in the Telecom & Data World.
Been on this channel for years and still enjoy the videos!
I'm getting my R.Pi tomorrow, cant wait to test it.
can't wait for the day when he says i want to host the whole internet myself
just a joke 😂😂
My favorite subject. Time synchronization is immensely important in connected parallel computing - especially clouds and systolic arrays. Intel's latest chips finally support high precision time as do most high end network products. Think about it for a second (pun intended) - you have a bunch of nodes running in their own little time domain world. When they interact with eachother they start to have a sense of fluidity they "wish" to achieve. You want the independent requests and responses to be low latency and instantaneous. And yet every transaction is non-deterministic. For every node you add each interaction between the nodes exacerbates this meshing. Without an agreed time unification the software will spend (more like waste) time polling and responding with very low efficiency. You are not computing when you are asking for something to compute and waiting for a node to "get around" to it. Take that chaos and think of a time partitioned comb (for your hair) with teeth. At tooth #1 we all sync. At Slot #2 all look for global commands like reset. Slot #3 - Node #1 sends requests. Slot #4 - all respond to Node #1. etc. This is simple to prove a point. If you are not involved with Node #1 - you can ignore the slot and keep busy. The array of nodes because become synchro-meshed and message with minimal disruption. It is seriously game changing.
fun video to watch but the price tag on that thing dayum son =))) £900 ouch
Yea, you can better connect to a stratum 1 time server.
This can't get better than this. I'm a broadcast final year student figuring out how to setup PTP with pi for AES67 streams and Viola!! here my fav youtube friend with the video
Been using your classes for a couple weeks but just saw you have an app now! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉! So awesome! Thanks for being you and helping me get through all this stuff without getting bored and falling asleep! 😂
Most people dont realize how accurate timestamps of network traffic are extremely important to many tasks. Packets must be reconstructed in the same order to make the data within it valid, so jitter in the clock that is doing timestamping can cause a bad chunk of data, requiring the whole chunk to be re-transmitted. In audio these bad packets result in a cracks and pops or a "zzzzttt" sound, in video it can result in a buffering issue if the issue is really bad, or a single frame having "static looking" data in part of the frame or even all of it. In HPC program that are crunching data it means lower throughput while you wait for re-transmission, or an error in data output (unlikely unless bad coding), and higher network utilization. This is why high end server NICs have femtoclocks on them, so packets can be timestamped down to sub-nanosecond accuracy
As another note, in professional audio settings with modern day equipment that uses mixing consoles and stages boxes and other rack equipment that all runs over a network, setting up which device is the master clock for your audio and making sure it is the most accurate and that every device can receive the messages accurately is extremely important. You run into a lot of clicks and pops in your audio if the network and time stamping is not set up properly or you have too low end of equipment. So I always laugh when I see people commenting on a product like an "audio NIC" meant entirely for streaming audio and saying how "it doesnt matter" and "why would anyone buy this?"
the 60 second history was so crazy good! do more of that frfr!
“I don’t need other satellites 📡, i need mine so let’s setup 😌”
I remember the famous lecture by Admiral (then Captain) Grace Murray Hopper where she handed out nanoseconds. It was a wire 11.8 inches long. That's the distance electricity travels in that amount of time.
The Raspberry Pi 5 or 4 in pieces next to the box almost had me crying 😂😂😢
Network chuck is my favourite TH-camr, I am not even joking like every single day I wait for chuck to upload so I can watch it. thank you for making my day better
Great Scott!
Edit: At 14:28 , maybe creating a pole stand for it.
Nice to see something different discussed for Homelab.
Dang it chuck! Why you gotta be so entertaining, inspiring and persuasive. I’m too poor for this (in all honesty your channel’s so fun! Subscribed!)
Chuck sensed that I had my junk together this morning so he decided to scramble my neurons with this.
MS Entra be like: "Your Kerberos ticket is out of sync with our NTP servers."
I was actually for something like this on a USB stick, a little battery backed up time keeper. People don't realize how helpful it is to have all your logs in sync.
USB has too much jitter for high precision timing.
RPi, GPS USB Dongle ($10), Chrony, instant time server. Have a couple for my HamNet portable, have a VM on home server (also fed by a $10 USB GPS). Easy-peasy.
The standard pi doesn't have the PPS input unlike the CM4 (this is broken out on the CM4 dev board) you also need a better GNSS board.
I need one for my nuclear warhead project
Amateur Radio operators (especially ones who use digital modes like FT8/4 need to have as accurate of a time as possible. The connections are all started and controlled by their computers, so being synced up with each other is extremely important.
Regarding the UTC / CUT thing, it's a French thing if I remember correctly. UTC is the French abbreviation of the French version of Coordinated Universal Time, iirc. Not sure what it means, haven't checked that in a long time. I guess it was a Tom Scott video or something like that where I got it from?
I once mailed the national weather survey here in Belgium (these guys track the time here) with this question, If all the clocks are synched by atomic clocks, why do we still have winter and summer hours? (you know those nights we need to go an hour more ahead or back in time), BECAUSE, I calculated that with a slight correction of about only 20sec, we could actually get it right in about 180 days (half of 360) 180X20 sec = 3600 sec (THAT IS AN HOUR), you spin the clock forward for 20 sec for 180 days and suddenly you are an hour ahead then you where 180 days ago and in reverse for 180 days bamn one hour back in time, and 20 sec a day NOBODY will notice these small changes I mean imagine waking up an hour earlier every damn year, you will feel that, but you won't notice 20 seconds, and we could get computers to adjust for it easily, not manually are you nuts? off course not. All we needed was a program that corrects for like a second an hour, or 20 sec every 3.A.M. and we would be set never worrying about daylight savings time. But off course my question fell on the deaf ears of beaurocratic lazy people who thought it was too much of a hassle to adjust worldwide??? We already adjusted worldwide it when we introduced timezones, and we didn't even have computers, servers, internet or AI back then
You bring a VERY interesting idea and I clearly see the method to your madness. I also think you've identified your largest obstacle re: the laziness of bureaucrats. You'll have to find where the money is involved in this proposed change to convince policymakers. There have been numerous studies showing the deadly results of brain fog/jet lag type symptoms that people experience for days after a time change, but sadly I believe the policymakers are motivated more by money than they are in reducing human suffering or demise. Hopefully others more knowledgeable on this topic will be along shortly to identify some certain use cases where this may be a bad idea.
Dang I learn a lot from this guy. My dad told what he knows about time.
your videographer is insane!
Does that give my location away? Let me ask big brother. 🤣
well timed
yessss
sweet learned something new today ... Thanks chuck!
Networkchuck hasn't been getting enough views. That's the reason for all the sponsorships bro got to feed his family
Since you mentioned quartz here's little secret on how cmos battery laszs for over 15+ years. Quartz posseses natural piezoelectricty which reduces drasticaly how much energy is neded from cmos for quartz to keep vibrating.
All this just so I can still show up late for work.
I have a Pi 5 with Chrony and a cheap serial-based UBlox GPS module and it manages pretty well. It even claims to be doing PTP, but I never calibrated it well enough to make PTP usage worth it. It's still far better than I get from internet NTP servers.
My next plan is to use another spare GPS module to make a second Chrony server so I can compare them to see what the error is like.
I mean I wouldn't say no to a decent hardware time card but I'm not paying hundreds of dollars when I can get into the sub-millisecond range with a cheap dedicated Pi 4 and even better with a Pi 5 used for some other occasional tasks.
10:19 : I am changing that RIGHT NOW!
So now it's a new device sitting between you and a 'time server' 👍
Yeah, sounds totally useless.
Not really as it will get its time from GPS/GNSS which have an atomic clock on board. So with this you're basically creating a Stratum 1 timeserver.
Really nice video like always Chuck 😊
I like the documentary like explanations for things, you should do it more with other protocols, networking things
This is crazy! So in-detail. Amazing; Near future U must build a time machine!
There is an old "not accurate enough" atomic clock from the 1960s in National Physics Laboratory in Teddington UK.
If you raised that clock up 20cm higher it would be possible for the clock to detect the difference in time :-) The value of Gravity in relativity equations explain this.
They have decided this is not accurate enough and are working on new more accurate clock for the modern IT world. 🙂
Thanks Chuck! As always another great video!! OMG, I’m so onto this “Time Server” board! I actually collect various antique time pieces, and certainly “time” is my favorite mystical subjects. I’m building a “pretend” Time Machine, and certainly will need this device! ;)
Sweet chemex brewer for that sweet coffee! I don't have the...time...to deal with paper filters so I go for a french press.
Nice!
I made the mistake of trying to sync my local NTP server using a USB-based serial ublox GPS dongle...
That was a mistake 🤦♂
Thanks for this... 👍
this is that comment you're looking for
nope
About the thing in the place that time
video next year "I built my own satellites to synchronize time better"
GPS is great for positioning and synchronization, but unfortunately GPS jamming is becoming very common. Both by governments blacking out zones in the world for military purposes and by criminals just to "have fun" disrupting drones or cars. When GPS signal is disrupted it also throws off these time servers and cell networks.
Thankfully, we are making some very good strides in Quantum Navigation and it may be available within the next 10 years or so. lol
Wow, you are truly reaching with this one. Dial it down a few notches.
I’ve done the next best thing to this which involved a bash script configuring my Pi5B plus a NEO-M8T GNSS HAT. I tend to get the Pi in question within about 1 microsecond of correct time which is impressive considering the small budget.
We need a terminal config and customization video
Great video chuck👌
cmos battery is not only for the rtc crystal but also to keep bios/uefi settings
You just got served, Time.
The title to this should have been "Atomic time server" for effect
16:53 I haven't lived for 1 billion seconds 🤯
I using a cheap vk 162 ublox 7 GPS and an Orange Pi one as a local NTP server. This cost me about $35 USD. I am very satisfied with microsecond accuracy.
COOL technology BTW, but is cost way too much for me
I have only one question, how time needed for ublox to digest GPS signals, and time to transfer GPS messages via serial 9600 to RPi is included in reading this "accurate" atomic time? This was not discussed at all and this is what is even more interesting...
Great content and well researched but this can be done with a any raspberry pi i am using a pi 3 and a gps module with and that is the clue a pps connection for arround 10 bucks including a external gps antenna (raspberry pi not included)
Good to know. I may explore the cheaper options next
Well I always had my time servers synced by the atomic clock at the Naval Observatory so it's funny you say that. (Lol)
2:29 this is new for me!
Dallas looks exactly as I remember it.
Nice video
And for that matter, I'm watching this an hour after you uploaded this which was how long(?) after you recorded it.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so.
Nice video sir ❤
I set my watch 5min ahead so I'm never late. 😂 I'm good for a couple thousand years I guess
£440?! I'd rather build something with a RPi 5, and it's RTC. Do I need nanosecond precision in my home network? Probably, but not at that price.
competitive gamers need ptp
RIP David Mills :(
This same thing can be done with a Raspberry Pi and a GPS disciplined oscillator for a fraction of the cost.
the puns are timeless
Goes to Japan to watch American movies, and comes back to America to watch Japanese TV... Crazy ad bro
*STOP!* (It is interesting how well some the 90's pop culture references have held the test of time while others have not.)
he is going to host his own google soon
Noone needs this
I thought Pi5 was supposed to support HW time stamping. If it does, why not just grab time off a GPS serial unit and make a master clock out thru the Pi's NIC ?
Damn, that's cool, I need one of the...
£1,187.85
I don't need one of these
Here is another way to think on it. The difference in 1 million and 1 billion is roughly 1 billion.
Any more Tyler Ramsbey collabs planned?
Next video --> Setting up your own atomic clock!
Isn't serial polling (how, i assume signals are getting from the gps module to the microcontroller or the pi depending on how things are configured? Wouldn't polling lag be significantly larger than nanoseconds?
I had an issue many years back with iOS where my phone time was out of sync. Loading SSL pages would fail. And the time based 2FA codes also had issues. Eventually a software update resolved it but it was a strange issue to deal with.
Chuck, make a video about accessing you home server from outside your house using duckdns and headscale, please, please, please!
Setting up your own GPS time server with Raspberry Pi 🤯
Take a shot every*time* he says "time"
When you reach a certain age you will adjust all of your clocks to be slow, just because. I never want to be on time ever again.
@NetworkChuck did you get the holdover working? I know those have an optional addon clock.
Hey @NetworkChuck interesting video. What is your setup that you use to draw your diagrams on screen. Thanks.
bro is talking faster then a nano seconde
where is the coffee?
🤯🤯
My company uses atomic clock devices