NTP Backup Servers

Client Configuration and Development
1 
I don't know if I get the Concept of this Selection right.
0.de.pool.ntp.org
1.de.pool.ntp.org
2.de.pool.ntp.org
3.de.pool.ntp.org

Wouldn't it be better to have different Providers like this?
0.de.pool.ntp.org
0.ch.pool.ntp.org
pool.ntp.org
time.cloudflare.com

And why is is the Website saying:
In most cases it's best to use 
pool.ntp.org
to find an NTP server (or 0.pool.ntp.org, 1.pool.ntp.org, etc if you need multiple server names)

In my mind selecting a local Country Pool, should be closer and for this reason more accurate.
2

The pool DNS will return geographically close servers where possible. In most situations, there is no need to manually specify your region, because it happens entirely automatically.

The main exception would be if you’re using a distant resolver for some reason, as the location is based on your resolver’s IP.

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3

Georg,

There is no need to specify several pools.

Just 1 is enough.

As it will supply you already with 4 (or more) NTP-servers.

I would not specify more then:

pool.ntp.org

As ntp.org already removed bad-tickers, it’s very unlikely you get wrong time.

And maybe the German big ones as server, not declared as pool but as server:

ptbtime1.ptb.de
ptbtime3.ptb.de

Just as backup. Adding more pools is a bit silly as you end up with mostly the same servers.

Bas.

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4

Hi Georg and welcome to the community!

Two remarks:

  1. Please be advised that ‘time.cloudflare.com’ is already (quite dominantly) present in the NTP-pool. Keep this in mind when you configure ‘time.cloudflare.com’ explicitly (which is off course possible if you want to be less dependent of the NTP-pool’s DNS).

  2. There are two ways of configuring NTP-servers: by means of a ‘server directive’ and by means of a ‘pool directive’. Even though the NTP-pool documentation says otherwise, I’d recommend the ‘pool directive’, because that method is much better in recovering from servers that go offline.

Other than this, as others have already indicated, the NTP-pool is quite clever in connecting you to a diverse set of participating servers.

5

I suggest the following line for the NTP server selection:
pool 2.pool.ntp.org iburst
It provides multiple, divers time servers geographically near to the device you are configuring.

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