| By Richard N Williams
As the name suggests, GPS time servers receive their time from the GPS system (Global Positioning System). The GPS signal is basically just a time code sent down from the satellites’ onboard atomic clocks. This time signal is what satellite navigation systems use to triangulate positioning, but because it is generated by atomic clocks is extremely accurate and precise.
| By Richard N Williams
The big advantage of a digital network wall clock is that they never have to be set as the time is kept and maintained by the network time server, which ensure the wall clock is accurate to the millisecond. Furthermore, most digital network wall clocks use the power over Ethernet system to provide the clock’s power, so there is no need to wire them up to the mains or install batteries
| By Richard N Williams
Because health care is based on multi-disciplinary teams, treatments, meetings, operations and procedures often require strict coordination to prevent wasting time and provide an efficient service. Making sure everybody has access to a synchronised and accurate time is part of this process, which is what makes precise and reliable digital wall clocks for hospitals so important.
| By Richard N Williams
A business digital wall clock can use an atomic clock as a source of time, and relay this time in a digital display. These atomic clock receiving clocks come in various guises. Some use small radio receivers to pick up the atomic clock transmissions broadcast by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the UK or the National Institute of Standards and Time (NIST) in the USA
| By Richard N Williams
Network time servers are responsible for providing a network’s time. Of course, all computers have their own onboard clocks built into the motherboards, but these devices are only cheap oscillators and are prone to drift. When you have a network of hundreds or even thousands of PCs and devices, if there was no synchronisation to a single network time source, all the machines could be relaying completely different times, often several minutes apart.
| By Richard N Williams
When it comes to network time synchronisation, Network Time Protocol (NTP) is by far the most widely used software protocol. Whether it’s for keeping a network of hundreds or thousands of machines synchronised, or keeping a single machine running true, NTP offers the solution. Without NTP, and the NTP server, many of the tasks we perform on the internet, from shopping to online banking, simply wouldn’t be possible.
| By Richard N Williams
Perhaps the safest and most accurate means of obtaining a time source is by utilising the time codes transmitted by the GPS (Global Positioning System). All that is required for picking up these GPS signals is a GPS NTP server, which will not only receive the time code, but also distribute it around the network, check for drift and maintain stable and precise time on all machines.
| By Richard N Williams
Power over Ethernet is ideal for powering and controlling wall clocks and other time devices. The accuracy of a network’s NTP time server can be used to maintain an accurate time on the PoE clock. This means the clock will never drift and will always be accurate to the second – ideal for ensuring punctuality in organisations that runs to a tight time schedule. No matter how many clocks are running on the PoE system, they will all maintain the exact same time, eliminating time inconsistencies in large organisations.
| By Richard N Williams
To synchronise a computer network or other technology systems to GPS time, all that is required is a GPS network time server. GPS network time servers are simple to install, simple to use and can maintain accuracy for all sorts of technologies. Used by organisations as diverse as stock exchanges, air traffic control and banking systems, GPS time servers provide an efficient and cost effective solution to maintain network synchronicity.
| By Richard N Williams
When a network loses time, you are at risk of losing far more than just what time of day it is. Time is an essential aspect of network security and any errors in a network time server can lead to catastrophic result. However, the solution for ensuring network security is fairly simple and relatively inexpensive – the NTP time server.
NTS-6001-GPS
C1 44-R-M-NTP - PoE digital wall clock
NTS-4000-GPS-R - A complete solution for synchronising the time across any computer network.