September 23tn, 2003.

Network Time Synchronization.

Having network time synchronizing software is often a must have requirement for corporate (and other) LANs. That is quite obvious. A network may include hundreds, even thousands of computers, some in very remote locations. In order for the system administrator to be able to perform scheduled task, he or she must make sure that the network time is synchronized. Otherwise, the network just won't function properly, because each computer has its own time, which may differ from the other computers time and be way off. One way to fix this problem is to install time synchronizing software on each of the workstations, so that each workstation synchronizes own time with an atomic time server. Naturally, this is an absurd way. The other way is to set up network time synchronization. This is how it's done. One computer (server) connects to the atomic time severs to synchronize its own time. Now this computer (server) has the precise time. Then, special software is installed, so that each computer in the network connects to that one computer (server) and synchronizes its own time with it. This is the essence of network time synchronization. The best thing is that the users of the computer network don't have to do anything on their own. Here is a real life example; Absolute Time Server is a FREEWARE SNTP and TIME server for LANs. It can be run as a Windows service and has a convenient graphic user interface. Absolute Time Corrector automatically finds all available workstations in the network and tests for the TIME server. Then the network time synchronization is performed automatically.

Next Week. Common issues setting up time synchronization software.