Facebook: New timing protocol implemented at Meta data centers

Meta has announced that it is deploying a new network timing protocol, Precision Time Protocol (PTP), which will keep each server in its data centers on the same time. Servers must be coordinated, otherwise, users can experience delays, errors, and outages.

In contrast to Network Time Protocol (NTP) which allows for precision within milliseconds and is the technology the giant previously used, PTP is more advanced and allows for precision within nanoseconds.

It has been noted that while the data center industry has trailed behind the telecommunications sector in terms of adoption, this news represents a technical milestone for the industry. 

According to the social media company, the technology has a number of benefits, including that it can enhance the user experience provided by collaboration applications and video games, as well as increase the efficiency of the graphics processing units it uses to build and run artificial intelligence software.

Speaking about the switch, Meta project lead Ahmad Byagowi and production engineer Oleg Obleukhov explained in a blog post: “To support the billions of people around the globe using our technologies, we need to be confident that every server — in every data center — knows and agrees what time it is, as accurately and precisely as possible.”