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Siegburg / LEUNIG. In addition to Windows and Novell
environments, NeoClock - the versatile radio clock
from German technology leader Leunig - can now also
be used with the Linux and Unix operating systems.
The required adaptations to the NTP (Network Time
Protocol) were made by the German software house Linum,
who also act as exclusive distributors and support
centre for the new NeoClock4X synchronization systems.
NeoClock and NeoClock4X are highly accurate timekeeping
systems which automatically adjust the clocks of individual
PCs and whole computer networks.
Company head Peter H. Leunig is pleased: "The fact
that a renowned company like Linum associates its
own name with our NeoClock product speaks for itself.
With Linum, we have gained an outstanding partner."
Claas Hilbrecht, Executive Director of Linum Software
explains Linum's interest in NeoClock: "With the reliability
of the NeoClock hardware, we saw an opportunity to
implement something which has never before existed
in the world of Linux and Unix: to offer a radio clock
and the associated software - complete with support
- from a single source."
With the adaptation to NTP, which included changes
to the NeoClock firmware, such as adding NTP drivers,
and with the adaptation of NTP to NeoClock, Linum
has established the preconditions for using NeoClock4X
with the Linux and Unix operating systems. To allow
the use of NeoClock4X in a specific Linux or Unix
system environment, a suitable driver for the specific
release of the operating system used is needed. Some
of these drivers are available ready to use from Linum
(in the form of compiled binaries, for example for
SuSE Linux 8.0), others must be compiled by the user.
If necessary, customers can make use of Linum's support
service, for example by allowing Linum remote access
to their servers through SSH.
NeoClock4X makes the many NTP-supported time sources
available to Linux and Unix users, and with them an
almost unlimited level of precision and reliability
for the clocks across their entire network systems.
NTP can evaluate the quality of the time signals received
from various sources, such as long-wave transmitters
like DCF77 and TDF (Télé Distribution Française),
the GPS system, and also servers. It then uses this
information to calculate a "synthetic" system time
- the closest possible approximation of the actual
UTC (universal time coordinated) time. The precision
of the resulting system time can be enhanced even
further by the user, who can fine-tune the system
by compensating for inaccuracies resulting from the
distance (i.e. the time-lag) between the transmitters
and the receivers.
In addition, the ability to process several time
sources means that the failure of one source has a
negligible effect on the system time. Peter Leunig
and Claas Hilbrecht both expect that many NeoClock4X
customers will use the combination of DCF77 and TDF,
not least since these two signals provide coverage
across all of Europe. DCF77 is the time signal from
the atomic clock of the German Federal Institute of
Physics and Metrology (PTB) in Brunswick; TDF is the
atomic time signal sent by the France Inter transmitter.
According to Leunig, the system time which NTP derives
from DCF77 and TDF will deviate from UTC time by no
more than ten milliseconds. (UTC - the successor of
Greenwich time - is calculated from the atomic times
provided by institutes of natural science throughout
the world.)
Linum is aiming for a future integration of the adapted
source code for NeoClock4X in the official NTP sources.
This would provide an early support for new operating
system versions, like those from AIX and Solaris.
In addition, many operating systems are expected to
be equipped with their own NeoClock4X drivers. NeoClock4X
users will then also have permanent access to current
NTP test versions with new features. The NeoClock
NTP is based on the RFC-1305 NTP specification (see
www.ntp.org).
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