Networking Guide
Chapter 1, Networking overview

Distributed time services

Distributed time services

Synchronizing clocks across a network or group of networks helps programs that use time stamps function accurately. Examples include database, configuration management, and transaction-processing programs. Without this synchronization, database files may be simultaneously (and incorrectly) accessed by multiple machines, or updates to system files may be pushed to remote machines at incorrect times.

Use the Time Synchronization Protocol (TSP) or the Network Time Protocol (NTP), both members of the TCP/IP protocol suite, to synchronize clocks on your network.

Both TSP and NTP are fully supported in SCO OpenServer Release 5. Each has its own advantages, which are fully detailed in ``TSP guidelines'' and ``NTP guidelines''. The primary differences between NTP and TSP are: