The Cisco switch must be configured to synchronize its clock with the primary and secondary time sources using redundant authoritative time sources.

The loss of connectivity to a particular authoritative time source will result in the loss of time synchronization (free-run mode) and increasingly inaccurate time stamps on audit events and other functions.

Multiple time sources provide redundancy by including a secondary source. Time synchronization is usually a hierarchy; clients synchronize time to a local source while that source synchronizes its time to a more accurate source. The network device must utilize an authoritative time server and/or be configured to use redundant authoritative time sources. This requirement is related to the comparison done in CCI-001891.

DOD-approved solutions consist of a combination of a primary and secondary time source using a combination or multiple instances of the following: a time server designated for the appropriate DOD network (NIPRNet/SIPRNet); United States Naval Observatory (USNO) time servers; and/or the Global Positioning System (GPS). The secondary time source must be located in a different geographic region than the primary time source.

Review the Cisco switch configuration to verify that it is compliant with this requirement as shown in the configuration example below:

ntp server x.x.x.x ntp server y.y.y.y

If the Cisco switch is not configured to synchronize its clock with redundant authoritative time sources, this is a finding.

Configure the Cisco switch to synchronize its clock with redundant authoritative time sources as shown in the example below:

SW2(config)#ntp server x.x.x.x SW2(config)#ntp server y.y.y.y