ITPEC FE Morning April 2021 Question 32
In a TCP/IP environment, which of the following is a protocol for synchronizing the clocks of multiple computers with that of a time server?
Explanation
NTP — the Network Time Protocol synchronizes computer clocks with a time server over the network.
An NTP client asks a time server for the time, measures the round-trip delay of the exchange and corrects for it, which keeps its clock within milliseconds of the server. Servers are arranged in levels (strata) below a reference clock, and NTP runs over UDP port 123. Synchronized clocks matter for logs, authentication and anything that compares timestamps.
Answer (c)
Why not others:
- •(a) FTP — the File Transfer Protocol transfers files between client and server
- •(b) NNTP — the Network News Transfer Protocol distributes and reads news group articles
- •(d) RTP — the Real-time Transport Protocol carries audio and video streams with timestamps for playback, but does not set clocks
Key rule: Similar acronyms hide different jobs: NTP sets time, RTP carries real-time media, NNTP carries news.
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