The answer is....
Use a simple server for your ntpd and never ever let it go down.
Some places I know have something not much better than a Pentium 1 with
kernel 2.2.xx on it. Uptimes for things like this and DNS servers
should be in the years, if all goes well.
Unfortunately, if you've got a whole bunch of servers waiting to start
to synchronize with your main time server(s). In a hierarchical
environment you can get up to hours until they all are in sync :(
Running ntpdate and starting ntpd immediately after doesn`t address
that problem, I'm afraid. But that, I guess, is the tradeoff for ntpds
deep black, but very precise magic...
cheers,
&rw
