QUESTION - Time Synchronization

(a) Why is computer clock synchronization of paramount importance? Give 2 business scenarios whereby time accuracy is critical?

(b) Computers clocks can be synchronized through peers, UTC and NTP servers.

       (i) How might the clocks in two computers that are linked by a local network be synchronized without reference to an external time source?

       (ii) What factors limit the accuracy of the procedure you have described in (i)?

       (iii) How could the clocks in a large number of computers connected by the Internet be synchronized? Discuss the accuracy of that procedure.

(c) Logical time is more efficient for tracking processes in a distributed system and to model the time drift and skew. Explain how.

(d) A client attempts to synchronize with a time server. It records the round-trip times and timestamps returned by the server in the table below.

       (i) Which of these times should it use to set its clock? To what time should it set it?

       (ii) Estimate the accuracy of the setting with respect to the server's clock.

       (iii) If it is known that the time between sending and receiving a message in the system concerned is at least 8 ms, do your answers change?