When configuring DHCP scope options, could someone explain the difference to me between option #4 - Time Server and option #42 - NTP Server. I do know what an NTP server is and we do have one in our organization, I'm just wondering why and when you would use option #4 as opposed to option #42.

Hello, 004 specifies servers that provide TIME/ITP (as per RFC 868). This is not a recommended protocol/service in a Windows environment. 042 specifies servers that provide NTP/SNTP (RFC 1769). This is the preferred time service in a Windows environment (assuming the absence of Active Directory which maintains the time on your behalf. Regards, Peter Rajcinov

Just to re-iterate a very important piece of information that Peter pointed out. If you are running Active Directory in your environment, there is no need to assign Windows Clients that are members of the domain Option 042. Its built-in to the OS (time service) for the clients to ultimately sync with their PDC emulator's time. Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.

Hi, Please refer to this article: DHCP Tools and Options http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd145324(WS.10).aspx Regards, Bruce

Thanks for all of the information. I was actually using the NTP server option in DHCP to set time on IP phones not on workstations, but I was wondering what the difference was between the time server option and NTP option.

I haven't seen any other posts on this topic so I assume that everyone is good? Fore more information, I would recommend these links for further reading: RFC868 - Time Protocol http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc868.html RFC958 - Network Time Protocol (NTP) http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc958.html RFC1769 - Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1769.html Visit: anITKB.com, an IT Knowledge Base.