[ntp:questions] ntpd code

Maarten Wiltink maarten at kittensandcats.net
Fri Mar 25 08:09:15 UTC 2005


"Kemal Oral CANSIZLAR" <ocansizlar at comcast.net> wrote in message
news:c_ednSMHyYvnANzfRVn-2Q at comcast.com...

> My aim is to collect event data from various users using the
> application I am developing, so I will need a way to synchronize
> the event timestamps to reflect almost exact times the events
> occured. But users may not have the privilege to update the system
> clock in their machines, so I am simulating that through manipulating
> a high level clock.

When your application depends on correct time, users shouldn't be
able to change it. The converse point also holds; if users can't
change it and you need it to be correct, it becomes someone else's
(the system administrator's) duty to ensure that.

You can specify that systems running your appliaction should also
be running NTP, and that appropriate monitoring should be in place
to ensure the sanity of timestamps at all times.

Failing that, you could centralise logging on a machine that is
running NTP, or perhaps not running NTP. You would still have some
measure of certainty that all logging happens against the _same_
timescale, so relative order is (probably) maintained; what you
lose is the trustworthiness of the absolute timestamps.

Groetjes,
Maarten Wiltink





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