I am wondering: Is there an actual issue with the monitoring? I think it might have been discussed before, but don’t recall the details/outcome.
As has been stated previously throughout this forum, the pool is a volunteer-run project, both as far as contributing servers are (mostly) concerned, as well as far as the back-end infrastructure is concerned, including the monitors.
So all it takes is a volunteer to provide for the resources to set up a monitor within China. Ask obviously needs to do something to actually integrate it into the overall system, but I’d venture to say that other monitor operators on this forum would be willing to lend a hand in setting up the software itself so as to minimize dependence on Ask, who usually got his hands full with other stuff (obviously not sure about current situation).
I remember that you previously elaborated on why it is challenging for volunteers to set up an NTP server for the pool. I guess much of that could be applicable to a monitoring server as well.
But if the local policy is what it is, not sure how the project can help to mitigate that. Just as with the “firewall between China Mainland and other parts of the world”. As is the purpose of any firewall, if the Great Firewall on purpose limits the free flow of data packets, thereby affecting NTP traffic, both pool monitoring as well as actual time service, I don’t have an idea how the pool could mitigate that.
Or what would be your proposal as to how to address those challenges from the global pool community/infrastructure side? What is your expectation towards the pool in bringing this up?
E.g., maybe as with time service, a big (or even small) company from within China could step in?
Or maybe the volume of monitoring traffic (vs. the volume of time service traffic) is small enough so that hosting such a service on a rented VPS is feasible financially for a volunteer, or group of volunteers?
Or… (your ideas and input needed here - others welcome to chip in as well, of course)?