Local NTP server

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    Ruslan Zinatullin

    Hello Dan,

    We do not have an embedded NTP server or a preferred vendor, so you are free to choose any NTP server that suits your needs.

    You can also refer to the 'Time Synchronization in a Multi-Server Environment' chapter of the User Manual. This section explains how to disable time synchronization with the Internet and specify any server as the primary time server, with which other servers will sync their time.

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    Vincent INEO

    Hi Dan,

    you can look at TimeSync application, it's lightweight and easy to use

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    WallaWalla

    I am also interested in this as we deploy similar setups frequently. Because the cameras are on a separate NIC and do not have internet access I guess some level of routing would need to be set up in order to route from the camera to the NX server where the TimeSync and/or NTP application is running?

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    Vincent INEO

    Hi,

    You can distinguish two cases :

    - You have an Internet access :

        - You configure a firewall like Fortinet and it acts like a local NTP server on LAN and will synchronize on Internet on WAN, and if you want to secure the thing you can add a veracity NTP with GPS. Configure your PC servers and cameras to take the Forti first and the GPS second in case you lost the Internet or GPS.

    - You don't have Internet access :

        - You have to put two NTP with GPS at two different places and configure first and second ntp on your pc, servers, cameras and other equipments on your networks.

    Of course, you are not constrain to do this type of redundancy depending on your system.

    The benefits of TimeSync on PC and servers is to easily configure up to 5 NTP server with no needs to go in Windows variables etc...

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    Vincent INEO

    Ruslan Zinatullin so if Nx does not embed a NTP server, what is the purpose in the Expert Tab for : Keep the camera date and time ?

    Thanks

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    Ruslan Zinatullin

    Hi Vincent,

    Here’s how the time synchronization feature works:

    • If the box is checked: The camera will use its own current time, and the server will no longer send time synchronization requests to the camera. This is particularly useful for edge recording scenarios.

    • If the box is unchecked: The server will attempt to synchronize the camera’s time with the server’s time.

    In a multi-server environment this setting will not impact the time on other servers.

    So, we have some possibilities to sync time but it is not a complete solution.

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    Dan

    I've found the solution, atleast if your running Windows 11 Pro. No need for paid services.

    I applied the following steps via powershell with admin rights. The cameras were able to update their time using the local server from their isolated NIC.

    Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\w32time\TimeProviders\NtpServer" -Name "Enabled" -Value 1

    Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\W32Time\Config" -Name "AnnounceFlags" -Value 5

    Restart-Service w32Time

    New-NetFirewallRule ` -Name "NTP Server Port" ` -DisplayName "NTP Server Port" ` -Description 'Allow NTP Server Port' ` -Profile Any ` -Direction Inbound ` -Action Allow ` -Protocol UDP ` -Program Any ` -LocalAddress Any ` -LocalPort 123 

    Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_zgGtazO5w 

     

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    WallaWalla

    I just got a similar setup working with w32Time. If cameras are syncing with NTP directly now, should you have the "Trust camera timestamps" box checked or unchecked?

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    Vincent INEO

    Dan,

    TimeSync is not a paid application. It allows you to synchronize with multiple servers, not Win32 as I remember.

    WallaWalla If it's the same NTP you can let the box checked

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