Windows,Vista,Time,Servers,Syn computer Windows Vista: Time Servers, Synchronisation and Time Zone A
----------------------------------------------------------Permission is granted for the below article to forward,reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website,offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as longas no changes a Gone are those times when the companies and the organisations didn't need a hi-tech system to handle them. Owing to the considerable increase in the business sector and thus, an enormous increase in the complexity of the organisational struc
Itcan be really annoying. You have just got off the plane, booted up your lap topand set the clock to local time. Yet all your appointments suddenly move, notjust the ones on that side of the ocean either, when you return home and resetthe clock the appointments refuse to go back.Thisproblem occurs because of the way a computer handles time. In general computersignore time zones and base their time on UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) the internationaltime standard. Timecan cause havoc with computers, not just with lap tops either. Computers allover the world need to be telling the same time particularly if they have toperform time sensitive transactions or need to keep their networks secure.Most computer networks use NTP servers (Network TimeProtocol) to keep synchronized.NTP time servers use an UTC timing referenceeither from the Internet or from a radio or GPS transmission. A UTC timingreference originally comes from an atomic clock and is as accurate as humanelypossible.When travelling abroad it is good advice NOT to adjust thesystem clock as your computer (and its associated programs such as Outlook)stores all time in UTC form and only offsets for a particular time zone (So inFrance the time is UTC+1 while in the US (EST) it becomes UTC-6.However there are several features on Windows Vista that canmake keeping track of the time a lot easier for travelers.To keep track of the time zone you are travelling to,windows Vista can display more than one clock in the task bar (up to three).To enable multiple clocks to be displayed simply doubleclick on the time display in the system tray (bottom-right corner), click the changedate and time settings tab to bring up a date and time dialog box, clickAdditional Clocks tab, tick the check-box of Show this clock, select thetime-zone of the clock, enter the display name and click OK button. Next time your mouse pointer goes over the system tray yournew clock should be displayed besides the original (which should be larger).The clocks can also be placed on the Windows sidebaralthough this can use precious processing power.Another useful application in Windows Vista is being able tosynchronise the system clock with a UTC time source.Vista already comes equipped with a NTP service called WindowsTime Service (w32tm.exe) which cansynchronise to a UTC time source over the Internet. To do this merely doubleclick on the clock in the system tray and await the Internet Time tab. Click itan enter the name of the UTC server you wish to connect to (such aswindows.time or nist.gov).Vista can handle daylightsavings time too. If the system clock (the main one not additional ones) is setto adjust for daylight saving then the computer should automatically do it. Howeverit must be noted that some countries in the same time zone do not practicedaylight saving hours so the correct time should always be double checked.
Windows,Vista,Time,Servers,Syn