NTP Quiz: Network Time Protocol (Network+) Mastery

1. What does 'reference clock' mean in NTP terminology?

A backup server used during failures

The authoritative time source at stratum 0

A clock synchronized within 1 millisecond

A client's local system clock

2. NTP helps prevent which network security issue related to time-based authentication?

Token expiration attacks

Clock skew exploitation in Kerberos

SSL certificate validation failures

DNS spoofing attacks

3. In NTP configuration, what does 'prefer' indicate?

The server with the lowest stratum level

A server marked as preferred when multiple sources are available

The fastest responding NTP server

The server with the most recent time update

4. What is the typical maximum acceptable time difference for NTP synchronization?

1 second

100 milliseconds

10 milliseconds

1 millisecond

5. NTP is susceptible to which type of attack without proper authentication?

Replay attacks

Man-in-the-middle attacks

Spoofing attacks

All of the above

6. Which command displays NTP association status on Linux systems?

Ntp-check

Ntpq -p

Ntp-status

Timedatectl ntp

7. What is the purpose of the 'reach' register in NTP?

Tracks successful time synchronizations with a peer

Measures network bandwidth consumption

Stores the IP address of reference clocks

Calculates the maximum acceptable time error

8. NTP packets contain a timestamp field that uses which standard?

Unix epoch (seconds since 1970)

NTP epoch (seconds since 1900)

ISO 8601 format

Windows FILETIME format

9. In NTP, what is 'jitter'?

The accumulated time offset over hours

Variations in network latency affecting time samples

The intentional randomization of polling intervals

The hardware clock drift rate

10. Which of the following is NOT a valid NTP synchronization mode?

Symmetric mode

Broadcast mode

Streaming mode

Client-server mode

11. What is the primary purpose of Network Time Protocol (NTP)?

Synchronize system clocks across networked devices

Encrypt network traffic between servers

Manage DHCP address allocation

Monitor network bandwidth usage

12. NTP version 4 improved security primarily through which mechanism?

Stronger encryption algorithms

NTP authentication and symmetric key cryptography

Mandatory SSL/TLS connections

Hardware-based token authentication

13. What is the typical NTP polling interval on a stable network?

Every 16 seconds

Every 64 seconds

Every 512 seconds

Every 1024 seconds

14. Which NTP operating mode allows a client to synchronize with a single server?

Broadcast mode

Multicast mode

Client-server mode

Peer mode

15. In NTP, what is 'clock offset'?

The time zone difference between servers

The difference between a client's local time and server time

The delay caused by network latency

The error correction applied to hardware clocks

16. NTP uses which algorithm to calculate time adjustments?

Marzullo's algorithm

Berkeley algorithm

Dijkstra's algorithm

Bellman-Ford algorithm

17. What is the maximum stratum level in NTP before a server is considered unreliable?

8

10

15

16

18. A stratum 1 NTP server is directly connected to which type of device?

Another NTP server

An atomic clock or GPS receiver

A network switch

A firewall

19. In NTP, what does 'stratum' refer to?

The security level of the NTP server

The hierarchical distance from a reference clock

The encryption algorithm used

The maximum number of clients allowed

20. Which UDP port does NTP use by default?

53

123

161

389

NTP Quiz: Can You Sync the Clocks?