NTP2.usv.ro - OPERATING STATUS / DEVELOPMENT INFO / ACCESS RESTRICTIONS

(03/06/2011) - Importance:

We changed the servers location in a new building and positioned the GPS receivers on the rooftop, with almost 100% visibility to the sky. This means
improved performance compared to the old instalation. The hardware configuration didn't changed.

For the next 4 months, Internet connection failures may occur, so service interruptions are inevitable. Even our Internet connection will be down,
the time servers will work in the background without degraded performances, as we use no Internet information to keep the time accurate.

(23/05/2011) - Importance:

The servers location will change starting the 1st of June 2011. Beginning the 23rd of May 2011, we planned a series of test in order to find the best
configuration for the servers for the period with limited or no GPS visibility to the sky. The PPS Rubidium source will be available as a sync source.
For the next 4 months, Internet connection failures may occur, so service interruptions become inevitable.

(25/12/2007) - Importance:

I think there is enough time I ran the time servers to conclude that with some money and a lot of passion one could set up a very good time server.
A simple "top" command could show us some interesting data, for example the uptime of the server. Here is the screen capture (there are more than
92 days of uninterrupted running time). Too bad for Netcraft that was unable to spot the server uptime correctly (no more than 500 days of uptime
shown for any of my servers).

P.S. I didn't modified the screenshot (you may see the usernames). I am quite sure with the settings in hosts.allow and ipfw.conf there are very small
chances for bad guys the break the server (the main idea is that this is a server providing a public service - free of charge).

(19/12/2007) - Importance:

We changed the main ISP link from AS6830 to AS2614 (via AS20965) having now a very good international connection (with several external active
routes and peering). The maximum download / upload speed is now up to 30 Mbps, more than the previous limit. By the end of this year we have as
a target to upgrade the national connection between Suceava and the Roedu.net backbone to 1 Gbps. The total upload / download limit for the
external link (GEANT2 connected) of the central network backbone in Bucharest is 2 x 622 Mbps.

Post event information: The server was unavailable for various time intervals, due to route propagation process, between 06:25UTC to 19:00UTC.

(02/10/2007) - Importance:

Due to a very short perturbation on the mains, the server power supply was unable to provide good power and the computer reboots by himself.
This was the only server affected by this perturbation.

Post event information: The server was unavailable from 02:10UTC to 02:30UTC.

(06/04/2007) - Importance:

We are celebrating today 367 days of uptime for this server, as a proof of its robustness. Here is the screen with the "top" output.
As I say to my students, a good configured computer (a mix of hardware and software) is on - without rebooting - as long as the power supply is on.

(30/10/2006) - Importance:

We modified the ntp.conf file in order to allow the server to synchronize ONLY from the GPS receiver
(and the associated PPS signal). As a result, when the GPS signal will not be available, the server will
respond with a "NOSYNC" message to the NTP requests. This is an intermediate phase before configuring our new
Rubidium PRS-10 frequency standards (when the error will be in the Stratum 1 interval for 72 hours in the absence
of the GPS signal). We also intend to modify the motherboards of our time servers in order to replace the 14.318182 MHz
crystals with a ICS525 Programmable clock synthesizer.

(27/09/2006) - Importance:

During the time interval from 07:04:22UTC to 07:45:27UTC, due to a power outage, the server was not
available from the Internet (the server worked well during this time interval).

(11/06/2006) - Importance:

During the time interval from 01:44:16UTC to 05:03:03UTC, due to a UPS failure at one of our Intranet nodes,
caused by a mains blackout, the server was not available from the Internet (the server worked well during
this time interval).

(24/03/2006) - Importance:

During the time interval from 05:00:00UTC to 14:00:00UTC our NOC will be down due to a major power system
maintenance task in the building where it is located. In this interval all the services will be unavailable.
Post event information: The server was unavailable from 08:15UTC to 13:05UTC.

(30/01/2006) - Importance:

The last major upgrade to our NTP servers took place. As a result, the IP address of this server changed from
80.96.120.253 - ntp1.usv.ro to 80.96.120.252 - ntp2.usv.ro as the hardware remain the same.
The main synchronization source is a Garmin 18LVC receiver with PPS output.
The operating system for this server is the same FreeBSD 5.4.
During this operation the server was unavailable for about 60 minutes.

(24/01/2006) - Importance:

We activated the FreeBSD firewall IPFW due to a series of abuses on our network. The clients where not affected during this
upgrade, as the time service distribution was unavailable for only 3 intervals of about 5 minute each and the error was
under 5 microseconds. We have to restart the computer to activate the firewall, so the uptime was degraded.

(30/12/2005) - Importance:

A major hardware upgrade to our NTP servers took place. As a result, the IP address of this server changed from
80.96.120.249 - ntp3.usv.ro to 80.96.120.253 - ntp1.usv.ro as the hardware remain the same.
This server is now synchronized from a brand new Garmin GPS 18LVC receiver with PPS output.
The new GPS receiver location is on the top of the building roof so there will be virtually no loss
of synchronization.

The Stratum also changed from Stratum 2 to Stratum 1.

Server administrator: Eugen COCA