Chrony

Chrony

Chrony is a versatile implementation of the Network Time Protocol (NTP). It can synchronize the system clock with NTP servers, reference clocks, and manual input using wristwatch. It is designed to deliver accurate and secure time even in unstable network conditions.
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ntp time-sync clock

Chrony: Network Time Protocol Implementation

A versatile NTP implementation for accurate and secure timekeeping, even in unstable networks.

What is Chrony?

Chrony is a versatile implementation of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) used to synchronize computer clocks with NTP time servers, hardware reference clocks, and manual input. It is designed to deliver accurate, secure, and reliable time even in unstable network conditions.

Some key features of Chrony include:

  • It can synchronize the system clock faster and with better time precision than other NTP implementations.
  • It compensates for fluctuations in network latency and clock frequency.
  • It can be configured to increase the reliability over wireless or dial-up connections.
  • It runs well even on systems with intermittent network access such as laptops or virtual machines.
  • It provides authentication between NTP clients and servers using keys to prevent accidental or malicious protocol attacks.

Chrony is suitable for systems which are not continuously connected to the internet or lie behind a firewall and cannot run regular NTP. It can be useful as a client-only implementation in large organizations where the time servers internal to the organization are too distant to provide accurate time.

Chrony Features

Features

  1. NTP client and server
  2. Accurate clock discipline algorithm
  3. Support for reference clocks
  4. Command line interface and monitoring program
  5. Runs as a daemon process in user space
  6. Small footprint and low resource usage

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

High accuracy and reliability

Good performance in unstable network conditions

Secure authentication using keys

Easy to configure and manage

Open source with active development

Cons

Limited historic data for diagnostics

Less widely deployed than older NTP implementations

Requires configuration changes from default NTP setup

Not compatible with Windows time sync by default


The Best Chrony Alternatives

Top Network & Admin and Time & Clock and other similar apps like Chrony


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