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esxi1979
Expert
Expert

number of NTP servers

Hi,

On ESXi , AFAIK it will be good to add more than 3 NTP servers

Any recommendations if i add 8+ ie all my DCs  across the globe & couple of external NTP servers

thanks

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5 Replies
TimSheppard
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

What would you be hoping to gain by adding so many NTP servers?

Have you seen this VMworld session - YouTube (Virtualizing Active Directory the Right Way)

It's full of really good advice.

scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Moderator: Thread moved to the ESXi area.


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esxi1979
Expert
Expert

Well all i am trying to know is what is ideal # of NTP servers to use , is more NTP servers is good idea , if yes how many we should add 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or even more  , is higher number is always good ? or  there is a optimal number ?

The question is for ESXi level NTP & not the VMs level config like the AD vm, but good info on AD @TimSheppard

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scott28tt
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

I would have thought 2 in total will do, in case your 1st one wasn't available.


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VMware Training & Certification blog
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NathanosBlightc
Commander
Commander

Why do you want to add multiple NTP server for your ESXi hosts !?!

In none of IT environments it's NOT recommended to add multiple NTP server even in the virtualization infrastructure ... what's your use-case for adding more NTP ...

For your domain infrastructure (Active Directory) you should know all DCs are synchronized their time with PDC server by default, It means in a correlate configuration, all internal DCs receive their time from the DC that has PDC emulator role (via NT5DS service) and the PDC can sync its time with an external time server (via NTP)

Please mark my comment as the Correct Answer if this solution resolved your problem
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