WESM zl Management and Configuration Guide WT.01.28 and greater

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Configuring the ProCurve Wireless Edge Services zl Module
Enabling Secure Network Time Protocol (NTP)
Enabling Secure Network Time Protocol
(NTP)
Because the Wireless Edge Services zl Module supports NTP, you can configure the
module to take its time from an NTP server. This ensures that the module is always
using the correct time, which helps you maintain and monitor your company’s
wireless services. The module can function as a secure NTP client, which means that
it accepts the time only from authenticated sources.
In addition to receiving the time, the Wireless Edge Services zl Module can act as a
secure NTP server for other devices. Receiving a highly accurate time by communi-
cating with other NTP servers or NTP peers, or both, the module serves this time to
clients.
Secure NTP Overview
NTP is used to synchronize the clocks of computer systems to another server or
reference time source, such as a radio or satellite receiver or modem. NTP data
packets use a 64-bit timestamp to provide a high degree of accuracy relative to
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The server might receive its time via a Global
Positioning System (GPS) receiver, for example.
Typical NTP configurations use multiple redundant servers and diverse network
paths to ensure accuracy and reliability. The NTP client software runs continuously
in the background and periodically receives updates from one or more servers. The
client software ignores responses from servers that appear to be sending the wrong
time and averages the results from those that appear to be correct.
NTP Modes and Communications
NTP relies on the standard client-server relationship:
■ Clients send time requests to servers.
■ Servers respond with the time.
The Wireless Edge Services zl Module can operate as both a client and a server. To
configure the module as a client, you must configure an NTP neighbor that acts as
the module’s server.