{"id":1328,"date":"2014-11-10T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/?p=1328"},"modified":"2014-11-04T12:54:02","modified_gmt":"2014-11-04T12:54:02","slug":"ntp-stratum-levels-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | Welcome to the ‘Stratumopshere’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP).<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What is a stratum?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In terms of NTP, a stratum is simply one layer in a hierarchical network of layers that distribute accurate time across a network of devices.<\/p>\n

Stratum Levels & NTP<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Network Time Protocol is a tiered protocol and split into layers (stratums), which determine the distance from the \u2018reference clock\u2019.<\/p>\n

The reference clock is the device that sits atop the stratum hierarchy and is typically a cesium atomic clock<\/a> or a Global Positioning System (GPS), which have atomic clocks built into them.<\/p>\n

In the world of NTP, reference clocks are known as stratum 0 servers. They distribute Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to other devices across a network. All devices receiving time from a stratum 0 server are referred to as \u2018clients\u2019.<\/p>\n

Reference clocks have very little or no time delay. Furthermore, stratum 0 servers cannot be implemented across a network, instead, they are attached directly to a computer, which then serve as the \u2018principal\u2019 time server.<\/p>\n

Devices connected directly to a reference clock are commonly referred to as stratum 1 servers. Across a network, it\u2019s the stratum 1 time server that distributes time to other devices on the network.<\/p>\n

Those devices receiving the time package from stratum 1 time servers are referred to as stratum 2 devices and this sequence continues, down to stratum level 16, which is the lowest of all stratum levels.<\/p>\n

\"Stratum<\/a>
Stratum System In Action – Yellow Arrows Indicate A Direct Connection (Primary Devices); Red Arrows Depict A Network Connection.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although NTP can handle a maximum of 16 stratum levels, the further down the chain you descend, the less precise devices become.<\/p>\n

But, to combat inaccuracies, and to make the stratum system more dependable, each client can acquire time from multiple servers.<\/p>\n

Additionally, stratum 2 devices and below can be coordinated with each other. \u00a0Stratum 1 devices can also be peered, for instance, Galleon\u2019s NTS 6001<\/a> devices.<\/p>\n

The major benefit of NTP software is that it relentlessly tracks the consistency and precision of all NTP time servers<\/a> and selects the server with the most accuracy.<\/p>\n

Networks & Stratum Levels\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The stratum chain is predominantly used across large computer networks. This is because blitzing a solitary stratum 1 time server with multiple NTP requests, from hundreds of machines, will result in system overload or simply block the network.<\/p>\n

The outcome of such a scenario is that computers, routers and any other devices connected to the network will frequently be waiting for time synchronisation<\/a> requests to be processed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,155,202,138,68,30,148,110,206],"class_list":["post-1328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atomic-clock","tag-cesium-atomic-clock","tag-gps","tag-network-time-protocol","tag-ntp","tag-ntp-time-server","tag-ntp-time-servers","tag-nts-6001","tag-time-synchronisation"],"yoast_head":"\nStratum Levels & NTP Explained | The 'Stratumopshere' Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Brought to you by Galleon Systems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | The 'Stratumopshere' Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Brought to you by Galleon Systems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Galleon Systems\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-10T09:00:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stratum-System.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"313\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniel Waldron\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GalleonSystems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GalleonSystems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Waldron\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Waldron\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c579378b6db4e297549f513ebf6f54da\"},\"headline\":\"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | Welcome to the ‘Stratumopshere’\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-10T09:00:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Stratum-System.png\",\"keywords\":[\"atomic clock\",\"cesium atomic clock\",\"GPS\",\"Network Time Protocol\",\"ntp\",\"ntp time server\",\"ntp time servers\",\"nts 6001\",\"Time Synchronisation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | The 'Stratumopshere' Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Stratum-System.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-10T09:00:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c579378b6db4e297549f513ebf6f54da\"},\"description\":\"An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Brought to you by Galleon Systems.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Stratum-System.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Stratum-System.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":313,\"caption\":\"Stratum System In Action - Yellow Arrows Indicate A Direct Connection (Primary Devices); Red Arrows Depict A Network Connection.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | Welcome to the ‘Stratumopshere’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Galleon Systems\",\"description\":\"Sales: 0121 608 7230\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c579378b6db4e297549f513ebf6f54da\",\"name\":\"Daniel Waldron\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5d607f49fe9d604e52dc78e52c47b0b9f29e22043a2e9fb238426f76c8ae244f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5d607f49fe9d604e52dc78e52c47b0b9f29e22043a2e9fb238426f76c8ae244f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5d607f49fe9d604e52dc78e52c47b0b9f29e22043a2e9fb238426f76c8ae244f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Waldron\"},\"description\":\"A dedicated writer for 10 years, Daniel joined Galleon Systems in 2013. Daniel assists in the production of web copy, articles, blogs, press releases and white papers, for use by Galleon Systems' marketing team.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.galsys.co.uk\\\/news\\\/author\\\/danielwaldron\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | The 'Stratumopshere' Guide","description":"An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Brought to you by Galleon Systems.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | The 'Stratumopshere' Guide","og_description":"An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Brought to you by Galleon Systems.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/","og_site_name":"Galleon Systems","article_published_time":"2014-11-10T09:00:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":350,"height":313,"url":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stratum-System.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Daniel Waldron","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GalleonSystems","twitter_site":"@GalleonSystems","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Waldron","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Waldron","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c579378b6db4e297549f513ebf6f54da"},"headline":"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | Welcome to the ‘Stratumopshere’","datePublished":"2014-11-10T09:00:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/"},"wordCount":431,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stratum-System.png","keywords":["atomic clock","cesium atomic clock","GPS","Network Time Protocol","ntp","ntp time server","ntp time servers","nts 6001","Time Synchronisation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/","url":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/","name":"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | The 'Stratumopshere' Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stratum-System.png","datePublished":"2014-11-10T09:00:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c579378b6db4e297549f513ebf6f54da"},"description":"An in-depth insight into stratum levels and their connection with Network Time Protocol (NTP). Brought to you by Galleon Systems.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stratum-System.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stratum-System.png","width":350,"height":313,"caption":"Stratum System In Action - Yellow Arrows Indicate A Direct Connection (Primary Devices); Red Arrows Depict A Network Connection."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/ntp-stratum-levels-explained\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stratum Levels & NTP Explained | Welcome to the ‘Stratumopshere’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/","name":"Galleon Systems","description":"Sales: 0121 608 7230","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/c579378b6db4e297549f513ebf6f54da","name":"Daniel Waldron","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d607f49fe9d604e52dc78e52c47b0b9f29e22043a2e9fb238426f76c8ae244f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d607f49fe9d604e52dc78e52c47b0b9f29e22043a2e9fb238426f76c8ae244f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d607f49fe9d604e52dc78e52c47b0b9f29e22043a2e9fb238426f76c8ae244f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Waldron"},"description":"A dedicated writer for 10 years, Daniel joined Galleon Systems in 2013. Daniel assists in the production of web copy, articles, blogs, press releases and white papers, for use by Galleon Systems' marketing team.","url":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/author\/danielwaldron\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1328"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1335,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions\/1335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galsys.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}