Simple Precision Time Protocol at Meta

What this post added

Introduced Simple Precision Time Protocol (SPTP) as a simplified, more reliable, and resource-efficient alternative to PTPv2 for clock synchronization in Meta's data centers. SPTP reduces network communication by simplifying the exchange between client and server to three packets and eliminating the need for state machines on both ends. It also enhances reliability through a clock ensemble mechanism that uses Chauvenet's criterion for outlier detection and a weighted average of valid clocks to determine accurate timing information and a window of uncertainty.