2011-06-12 // Time synchronisation with NTP on Ubuntu (and Debian)
The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a protocol for synchronising the clocks of computers over TCP/IP networks. I don't go into detail here,1) but NTP is helpful if you need a really2) exact system time (e.g. on special Database servers) or just to get a correct clock setting on your common desktop. There are two ways to use NTP to set your system's clock:
ntpdate
– Simple NTP client, syncs your system's clock instantly by polling specified NTP server(s) every time it is called.ntpd
– NTP server daemon, calculates the drift of your system's hardware clock and continuously adjusts it. Can act as NTP server for other NTP servers and clients.