NTP Version 2 spec draft

[Mills at udel.edu]

Folks,

I was not intending to advertise it widely for a few days, but Louie
Mamakos found it anyway. There is a draft of what I am calling NTP Version
2 Specification on louie.udel.edu in pub/ntp/ntp.ps along with a
reformatted, but otherwise unchanged, copy of the archival article
pub/ntp/ntpx.ps.  While both of these should print on standard PostScript
fonts (Helvetica, Times-Roman and Symbol), be advised Ventura Publisher
stuffs an EOT at the end of the file, which has been known to box some
printer servers. Geeze, I even got it to collate backwards, which is great
for my LaserWriter, but Louie grouses that its backwards for him. Pax
Wigwam.

The new spec, now spoken by Fuzzballs, is intended to be a superset of the
old, although I did steal four bits from the old stratum field for the new
key-identifier field and add an optional message-authentication code at
the end. There are still a few loose ends in the local-clock area that may
not have finished twitching. Also, I think an authentication-enabled bit
should be included among the peer variables. Finally, be advised the
authentication scheme has been handed off to the Privacy Task Force for
advice and comment, so some things may twitch there, too. There is of
course no key-distribution mechanism proposed specifically for NTP and no
network-management mechanism to diddle the leap-bits. I handed the last
issue off to the IETF net-management mafia, but I don't think they will
take it seriously. A pox on their clocks.

The new version cleans up a lot of issues raised on this list, including
negative delays, authentication, stability, clock selection, etc. and
etc., which I will summarize later. Many of the changes are already in
Louie's latest version. My hope is to finish up the changes, beat on the
PTF and IETF for their blessings, get the stuff running on many/most of
the existing chimers and drop the new spec on the IAB for promotion to
Internet Standard, lesser-known-hero grade. Pax temporum.

Dave