What Do I Need To Know About Network Time Servers?
If you’re wondering what network timeservers are, you’ve come to the right place. A timeserver is a device that is connected to a network and responds to a computer request for information regarding time by using internet time protocols. There are several network time protocols, but the most common is the Network Time Protocol (NTP). If you’re wondering about what other time protocols are out there, it includes the Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP), Time, and Daytime.
The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a networking protocol for clock synchronization over data network that have been around since before 1985. This network protocol has been around the longest.
It is used to sync all computers on a network within just a few milliseconds of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). There are several other NTP implementation as well, including SNTP, Windows Time Service, OpenNTPD, Ntimed, and NTPsec.
Timeservers respond to queries for time all over the globe. Installing NTP client software that is installed on each workstation in your network can help keep the network synchronized. A network time server does this by directing each computer on a network to get their time from the Internet Time Server.
The Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is used to sync clocks throughout a computer network and was standardized by IEEE in 2002.
As humans, we have a need for time and synchronicity. Humans have been keeping time for 5,000 to 6,000 years, and in the digital age, we need it more than ever before, especially when we are sharing network with several computers and workstations.
Network time clocks can be used to calculate payroll and time clock software can allow for a business to define a sick leave policy. Your business can also create tasks for its employees and have them punch in and out of them throughout a workday.
This time record will generate a report, and thus let you know how much time was spent on each task of assignment since all clocks are synced on the network in your office.
Timeservers help to make sure there is a trusted time that is synced across all network computers and your computer can be synced with a clock server to ensure that the time is more accurate. Clocks on computers can easy be off by a few seconds or even minutes, and using a timeserver ensures they are all synced and the closest possible to UTC.