Subject: WG Action: Network Time Protocol (ntp)

From: The IESG <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:06:53 -0500

A new IETF working group has been formed in the Internet Area. For additional 
information, please contact the Area Directors or the WG Chairs.

+++

Network Time Protocol (ntp)
==============================

Current Status: Active Working Group

Chair(s):
Karen O'Donoghue <[email-masked]>
Brian Haberman <[email-masked]>

Internet Area Director(s):
Thomas Narten <[email-masked]>
Margaret Wasserman <[email-masked]>

Internet Area Advisor:
Thomas Narten <[email-masked]>

Mailing Lists:
General Discussion: [email-masked]
To Subscribe: https://lists.ntp.isc.org/mailman/listinfo/ntpwg
Archive: http://lists.ntp.isc.org/pipermail/ntpwg

Description of Working Group:
The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is widely deployed and used
in the Internet. However, the standardization status of this
protocol has lagged in the IETF. RFC 1305 (NTP version 3) was
published in March 1992 and remains unchanged and at Draft
Standard status. RFC 1305 represents the majority of full NTP
implementations deployed today. RFC 2030 (SNTP version 4)
was published as an Informational RFC in October 1996 as a
lightweight version of NTP for deployments not requiring the full
functionality of NTP. SNTP now represents the majority of both
NTP traffic and NTP implementation issues on the Internet. A
good deal of work has been produced in the NTP community
updating both NTPv3 and SNTPv4. This work is ongoing and
available through the collaborative development effort in the NTP
community, but it has not been reflected back into the NTP
specifications.

The goal of this working group is to document NTPv4 based on
the extensive work of the NTP community and to advance the
standardization status of NTP. It is an explicit goal of this effort to
have NTPv4 interoperate with the deployed base avoiding any
backwards-incompatible changes.

A number of topics have been raised as potential work items for
an update to NTP including support for IPv6, security
considerations including authentication, automatic configuration
including possible requirements for DHCP, and algorithm
improvements. This working group will focus first on delivering
NTPv4 and will defer additional development efforts until after
the delivery of NTPv4. Support for IPv6 and defining
mechanisms for securing NTP transactions is considered part of
the core NTPv4 functionality. Potential further modifications and
additions to the NTP protocol will be documented for possible
further work beyond the initial NTPv4 effort.

The working group will initially focus on the following
deliverables:
1. NTPv4 Scope and Requirements Document
(documenting the scope of the NTPv4 update and
identifying issues deferred for future work).
2. NTPv4 Protocol Specification (documenting the protocol
on the wire)
3. NTPv4 Architecture and Algorithms Specification
(documenting the architecture, mathematical algorithms,
and behavior of NTP servers and clients)
4. NTPv4 MIB (provision for management and monitoring
of NTP via SNMP)

Goals and Milestones:
Nov 04    NTP BOF at IETF 61  
Feb 05    NTP WG Charter Approved  
Mar 05    Draft of Scope and Requirements Document  
Mar 05    Draft of NTP Protocol Specification  
May 05    Draft of MIB Specification  
Jul 05    Draft of NTP Algorithms Specification  
Sep 05    WG Last Call Scope and Requirements Document  
Nov 05    WG Last Call NTP Protocol Specification  
Mar 06    WG Last Call NTP MIB Specification  
May 06    WG Last Call NTP Algorithms Specification  

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