Thursday, March 12, 2015

Precision Time Protocol PTP - Demystified

As Network Engineers we build highways (maybe Bundesautobahn where there are no speed limits) on top of which various protocols travel. As designers/architects, perhaps it would be beneficial for us to understand what is traveling on the highways we build.

I started to dip my feet into PTP and I realized there is more to PTP than meets the eye. I also realized that I knew very little about its operations so I decided instead of dipping my feet why not just dive right in -- head first. As any curious person would do, I started to read the RFCs and white papers. But before we get into PTP's operation, let's define a handful of key terms.