1-3 
z  When the message arrives at Device B, Device B inserts its own timestamp 11:00:01 am (T
2
) into 
the packet. 
z  When the NTP message leaves Device B, Device B inserts its own timestamp 11:00:02 am (T
3
) 
into the packet. 
z  When receiving a response packet, the local time of Device A is 10:00:03 am (T4). 
At this time, Device A has enough information to calculate the following two parameters: 
z  Delay for an NTP message to make a round trip between Device A and Device B: 
Delay = (T
4
 -T
1
)-(T
3 
-T
2
). 
z  Time offset of Device A relative to Device B: 
Offset = ((T
2 
-T
1
) + (T
3 
-T
4
))/2. 
Device A can then set its own clock according to the above information to synchronize its clock to that of 
Device B. 
For detailed information, refer to RFC 1305. 
NTP Implementation Modes 
According to the network structure and the position of the local Ethernet switch in the network, the local 
Ethernet switch can work in multiple NTP modes to synchronize the clock. 
Server/client mode 
Figure 1-2 Server/client mode 
 
 
Symmetric peer mode 
Figure 1-3 Symmetric peer mode