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Prerequisites

Before ordering Equinix Precision Time, ensure that the required network connectivity and permissions are in place. The following prerequisites must be met before ordering Equinix Precision Time services:

  • Precision Time is available only through Equinix Fabric and Network Edge. Other connectivity options are not supported.

  • One VLAN is included with the service. A Fabric port is required and must be ordered separately if not already available.

  • A 1 Gbps Fabric port is sufficient for Precision Time connections. The service has a low bandwidth requirement.

  • Equinix Precision Time is available to IBX data centers that are connected to an Equinix Fabric port in the following global regions: North and South Americas, APAC, and EMEA.

  • An Equinix Fabric port or Fabric Cloud Router (FCR) is required for Precision Time consumption. An Equinix Fabric account is required.

  • A Network Edge virtual device is required when using Network Edge for Precision Time consumption. See Configure Network Edge Devices as Timing Gateways for more information.

  • Determine the type of port to use to connect the network to Precision Time:

    • Dot1Q – All VLAN connections are Dot1Q. This is the recommended option.
    • QinQ to Dot1Q – QinQ encapsulates the VLAN tag with two layers: an inner tag for your network, and an outer tag for the Equinix network. If you are not required to use this type of port, we recommend that you use the Dot1Q port type.

  • One or two VLAN IDs can be specified during configuration, depending on the port connections used in the network.

  • For Precision Time configurations using PTP, all client devices must use network interface cards (NICs) that support hardware timestamping. See Network Interface Card Requirements for PTP.

For more information on integration requirements, contact Equinix Support.

Permissions for Precision Time​

Access to Precision Time, Equinix Fabric and Network Edge is managed through Equinix Identity and Access Management (IAM). Users must be assigned the EPT Service Admin role to create, view, update and delete Precision Time services. To order a service, users also need Fabric and Network Edge permissions to view ports and create connections.

To get a role, ask your IAM Admin or Project Admin. See Precision Time IAM, the Roles and Permissions Reference and Requesting Additional Permissions.

Network Interface Card Requirements for PTP​

When integrating with PTP, network interface controllers (NICs) provide accurate timestamping of incoming and outgoing packets. For PTP connections, each device in the network must have a NIC with the following capabilities:

  • IEEE 1588 PTP hardware timestamping support. For details, see ethtool examples below.
  • IEEE 1588 PTP clock. The NIC is required to have a physical hardware clock (PHC), which is shared between two ports on the NIC. For details, see ethtool examples below.
note

Most NICs currently in the market support these PTP requirements.

NIC Testing and Configuration​

The Precision Time Protocol daemon (PTPd) is the software used by Equinix to test all NICs, and the sample configuration used for PTP client devices.

PTPd is an implementation of the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) version 2, as defined by the IEEE Standard 1588-2008, which provides precise time coordination of Ethernet LAN connected computers. It was designed primarily for instrumentation and control systems. For a sample PTPd configuration, see Sample Configurations.

Verifying NIC Support for Hardware Timestamping​

Use the following ethtool command to verify an interface supports hardware timestamping with PTP/NTP:

ethtool -T <NIC_interface_name>

An interface supports hardware timestamping with NTP if ethtool returns the following capabilities and filter mode:

  • SOF\_TIMESTAMPING\_TX\_HARDWARE
  • SOF\_TIMESTAMPING\_TX\_SOFTWARE
  • HWTSTAMP\_FILTER\_ALL

ethtool Examples​

The following examples show valid interfaces.

PTP-supported Physical Interface

 $ ethtool -T enp1s0d1  
 Time stamping parameters for enp1s0d1:  
 Capabilities:  
      hardware-transmit      (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_TX_HARDWARE)  
      software-transmit      (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_TX_SOFTWARE)  
      hardware-receive       (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_RX_HARDWARE)  
      software-receive       (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_RX_SOFTWARE)  
      software-system-clock  (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_SOFTWARE)  
      hardware-raw-clock     (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_RAW_HARDWARE)  
 PTP Hardware Clock: 2  
 Hardware Transmit Timestamp Modes:  
      off      (HWTSTAMP_TX_OFF)  
      on       (HWTSTAMP_TX_ON)  
 Hardware Receive Filter Modes:  
      none     (HWTSTAMP_FILTER_NONE)  
      all      (HWTSTAMP_FILTER_ALL)

Non-PTP Interface or a Virtual Interface

 $ ethtool -T eth0  
 Time stamping parameters for eth0:  
 Capabilities:  
     software-receive      (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_RX_SOFTWARE)  
     software-system-clock (SOF_TIMESTAMPING_SOFTWARE)  
 PTP Hardware Clock: none  
 Hardware Transmit Timestamp Modes: none  
 Hardware Receive Filter Modes: none

PTP Metro Location Restriction​

For PTP packages, an eligible Fabric port must be in the same metro as the PTP service location. The destination service location is restricted to the same metro as the selected Fabric port.

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