A network time server is important because as more applications for internet use and storage are found, it becomes more and more critical to have the most reliable and accurate time keeping methods possible. Some industries can not exist without this high-level and new technology. Oil and gas companies, government agencies, and financial institutions are only a few of the industries that must have safe and accurate timekeeping within their firewalls.
No device in a system can be more accurate than the server it is on. All clients receive their time information by being synchronized with the network time server. For this reason, the most advanced timekeeping methods, such as atomic clocks, also known as cesium clocks, are used. These clocks are so accurate that once they are set, the do not need to be calibrated again.
With complicated, high-processing systems, more than one server is needed. The first tier has the highest level of security and keeps the time for all secondary servers underneath it. The secondary time servers are the ones with more accessibility, keeping the primary ones safe from hacking and viruses. This provides a layered system that has both access to important areas of storage and server space, but also the highest level of security to protect the timekeeping of the network time server.
When a device is networked, it sends a package of information to the time server asking for the correct time. The time server answers back with its time, along with a time stamp. The secondary device can adjust the accurate time to the fraction of a second it took for the reply message to return to it. When a client is networked through a line of multiple devices and servers, the calculations can get more complicated, but the underlying method is still the same. Each client in the system is able to receive the time server’s time and adjust it according to how long it took to return.
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