Supervising the Network

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Maintaining the NetWare Server
Managing Network Time Synchronization
Managing Network Time Synchronization
Time synchronization ensures that all servers in a Directory tree report the
same time and order NetWare Directory Services events correctly.
To establish time synchronization, a time server must first be assigned a time
server type. Then the time server must know which servers to contact for
time information, how often to contact them, and how much a server’s time
can differ from network time and still be considered synchronized.
The following sections describe these processes and indicate which
variables control the configuration.
Changing the Default Time Server Type
The installation default for time synchronization designates the first server in
a new Directory tree as a Single Reference time server and all others as
Secondary time servers. In most circumstances, you do not need to change
the default time server type.
However, you may need to change the default time server type if you are
using a custom time source configuration. You can do this using the System
Administration Manager (SAM).
For information on time server types, see “Time Servers” in Chapter 4 of
Introduction to NetWare Directory Services and “Time synchronization” in
Concepts.
Time Sources
To synchronize, time servers poll at least one other time source:
• Single Reference servers are always synchronized and therefore do not poll time
sources.
• Reference servers must poll another time source, preferably a Primary server,
although it can be another Reference server. Although Reference servers do not
adjust their time, they must be able to contact another time source before they can