The Network Time Protocol (NTP) synchronizes time between computers on a network, important for security and event logging systems. NTP version 4 includes improved accuracy and algorithms. Accurate time is critical for financial transactions and industrial control applications. NTP can obtain time from internet-based or wired sources, and NTP software keeps clocks updated precisely. SNTP is a simpler version of NTP.
The Network Time Protocol is a means of accurately synchronizing the time between multiple computers on a network. Most computer clocks lose at least a full second of time every day, which isn’t that important to the average user. Many security and event logging systems need to track computers on different networks, including the Internet. These systems rely on synchronizing the clock of their connected computers with the Network Time Protocol. This protocol frequently updates the exact time on its clients from servers that maintain the international atomic time standard.
Also known by its acronym NTP, the Network Time Protocol was established as a standard in the late 1980s. Several revisions were made in the 1990s to improve authentication, algorithms, accuracy, and external synchronization. In 2010, NTP version 4 was proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in Request For Comments (RFC) 5905. Version 4 includes public key cryptography, nanosecond time accuracy, and a method to automatically locate a time server . It also includes improved algorithms and accuracy, as well as support for new hardware and operating system reference clocks.
A user on a small local network may only be slightly annoyed when email or file modification timestamps are out of order. However, networks with many users and shared resources on the Internet will be significantly affected. For financial transaction databases, industrial control applications, and network monitoring software, accurate time is usually critical, not just on the system recording the transaction, but on all computers reporting the data, 24 hours a day . The Network Time Protocol and the international time servers that support it can meet these needs.
A network administrator could manually update the time on each client from a time server. Systems can also be configured to reload the time on every reboot. However, the time shift from hour to hour is significant, due to many factors, including temperature and operating system issues. The best solution is usually to automatically reset each clock in very small increments several times a day with the Network Time Protocol. Using this method, systems and users are not “surprised” by relatively large and sudden leaps forward or backward in time.
A client using the Network Time Protocol can obtain accurate time from an Internet-based server or an external wired time source. Ultimately, both sources obtain Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) from an international time server. A wired source can receive it directly or indirectly via a special radio signal. A network source usually obtains this indirectly through several layers of servers running NTP software. While there are only a few time servers directly connected to atomic clocks, tens of thousands of servers around the world broadcast the time to local systems.
Network time software running on each NTP client keeps the clock updated with extreme precision and regularity. When a client is not connected to the Internet, NTP algorithms estimate the current time based on past performance. Systems that don’t need the full capabilities of NTP can use a stripped-down version called Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP).
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