Configure a time server

Pearl Mini uses the Network Time Protocol (NTP) server from the National Research Council of Canada by default. You can change to a different time server using the Admin panel. Contact your system administrator for the time synchronization server settings you should use.

The following table lists the time server types that Pearl Mini supports.

Supported time server types

Label Description/Options
NTP

Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers are used to synchronize system time. Many NTP servers are available on the Internet.

Pearlcan also act as a local NTP server.

All you need is the IP address of the NTP server and network access to the server to use that as the time synchronization source for Pearl Mini. For more information about NTP and to find NTP servers, refer to http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/WebHome.

A local Windows NTP server is not supported.
PTP v1 The Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is used for clock synchronization over the Internet. It has clock accuracy in the sub-microsecond range, making it more granular than NTP.

NTP sends UDP packets over port 123 on Pearl Mini and PTP sends UDP packets over ports 319 and 320. If the Pearl device is behind a firewall, you must open these ports to allow traffic when the Pearl device is configured to use either an NTP or a PTP server to obtain its time and date information.

Set the time synchronization method using the Admin panel

  1. Login to the Admin panel as admin, see Connect to the Admin panel.
  2. From the Configuration menu, click Date and Time . The Date and Time configuration page opens.
  3. To use Pearl as a NTP server and provide timing to other NTP clients like IP cameras, check Enable local NTP server. Otherwise, skip this step.
  4. Select Enable time synchronization and choose the time synchronization protocol from the Protocols drop down.
    1. If NTP is selected, enter the IP address or server name for the NTP server in the Server IP Address field.
    2. If PTP v1 is selected, choose a multicast address for the PTP v1 server from the PTP domain field.

PTP multicast addresses

PTP Domain Description
Default PTP at multicast address 224.0.1.129
Alternative 1 PTP at multicast address 224.0.1.130
Alternative 2 PTP at multicast address 224.0.1.131
Alternative 3 PTP at multicast address 224.0.1.132
  1. Click Apply.