SolarFlare SFN7322F with PPS for Precision NTP

[abq]

Hello All,

I am interested in setting up a modern Precision Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server, and syc'ing precision time across my home network. Does anyone have 'hands on' experience with the SolarFlare SFN7322F cards and precision time sycn via a GPS Pulse Per Second (PPS) connection? Looks like this requires 'hard to find' Solarflare SOLR-PPS-DP10G kit. Let me know if you might have any advice & experience to share, or an extra SOLR-PPS-DP10G laying around.

No real driving need for this. I just want to learn something new.

Best Regards,
ABQ

 

[abq]

No one has done any precision timing & synchronization here? Maybe something in finance, stocks, or other trading?

 

[abq]

Not sure why these SolarFlare SFN7322F cards sell for more, if no one is using PTP feature. Do these have other enhancements over the SolarFlare SFN7122F cards? ...Both are PCIe 3.0x8.

 

[NablaSquaredG]

Solarflare SOLR-PPS-DP10G kit. Let me know if you might have any advice & experience to share, or an extra SOLR-PPS-DP10G laying around.

You don't need this kit - Just get an SMA to U.FL cable and drill a hole into a random Slot bracket.

To properly make use of the Solarflare features, you will need an older Kernel and the proprietary driver.

The manuals are very good.

 

[sko]

No one has done any precision timing & synchronization here?

For what?
NTP via public peers is good enough to keep time synced within *very* small deviations. Sync all your local machines against a pair of hosts that are synced against upstreams and you're done...

 

[NablaSquaredG]

For what?

Since when is this a question we ask on STH?

I run PTP in my lab. Simply because I can.

 

[alaricljs]

I run PTP in my lab. Simply because I can.

But do you do all the necessary things for the consumers to track time accurately? It's no easy feat and a bit of a resource waste if not truly necessary.

 

[NablaSquaredG]

But do you do all the necessary things for the consumers to track time accurately? It's no easy feat and a bit of a resource waste if not truly necessary.

Stratum-0 time source (u-blox ZED-F9T GNSS module with calibrated Ardusimple antenna)? Check
PTP Grandmaster NICs (E810-XXVDA2) fed with PPS signal from ZED-F9T? Check
Slave NICs with Hardware PTP Support? Check

 

[alaricljs]

Core isolation and IRQ pinning so that CPU load doesn't get in the way?

 

[NablaSquaredG]

Core isolation and IRQ pinning so that CPU load doesn't get in the way?

Not required for PTP, because it's hardware based on the NIC.

 

[alaricljs]

That hasn't been my experience, but as long as you're happy with what you've got. Besides, there's a ton of other variables I'm stuck contending with. Comparing environments is a path to madness.