Most clocks lose or gain time so within a few days they no
longer display the correct time. In the days of old, grandfather would wind up the family clock once every couple of days and where
appropriate, adjust the hands of the clock to reflect the correct time. If grandfather found that the clock was too slow or too fast
by a constant number of minutes every day, he would adjust the clock pendulum so as to correct the clock speed.
Most network time synchronization software restricts itself to the equivalent of "adjusting the hands" at certain intervals. Thus the
longer the time between adjustments, the greater the cumulative error, or offset, will be. This effect is illustrated below. The graph
shows the clock offset accumulating as the clock slowly drifts away from the correct time. Then an adjustment is made, thereby
correcting the offset and the cycle begins anew.
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Depending on your time keeping requirements, the accumulated offset between adjustments may exceed the maximum acceptable value.
Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) such as 911 call centers, for example, are required by their governing body NENA to
maintain a continuous accuracy of 100 milliseconds when synchronizing to the reference time source.
Thus, in order to effect continuous accuracy, it is not sufficient to adjust the system time at certain intervals, it is also
necessary to correct the system clock speed. Once your computer system clock speed itself is correct, it is only necessary to verify
correct time at certain intervals and make minimal corrections where required. Your computer may now "free run" without access to its
reference time source and without accumulating a large error between time checks.
PresenTense Time Server features free run support when synchronizing to network time sources both in SNTP
mode as well as NTP mode. PresenTense Time Server achieves this by first measuring the average offset or
clock drift between adjustment intervals and then adjusting the operating system clock speed accordingly. Both the client and server
editions of PresenTense time software support free run operation on the following operating systems: Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
XP and Windows 2003, Windows XP and Windows Vista. These operating systems allow micro management of the system clock via access to
the clock interrupt which typically occurs every ten milliseconds. At every clock interrupt, time may be added or subtracted with 100
nanosecond precision, thus correcting the overall system clock speed.
The benefits of free run support are illustrated below. The image shows an actual PresenTense NTP Auditor graph on a 50 millisecond scale as PresenTense progressively refines the
system clock speed on a typical desktop system.
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Free run support is enabled by default when operating in the following modes :
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Settings Tab: Click
SNTP Time Source in the Reference Time Source box.
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SNTP Time Source tab:
Click NTP/SNTP in the Time Source Type box. Enter reference time servers as appropriate.
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Settings Tab: Click
NTP Time Source in the Reference Time Source box.
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Trademarks:
Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. No
associations are implied.
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