Time is important, there’s no doubt about it. Though some may say that time is a man made construct, we need it, whether it’s man made or not. And time has been around since, well, since the beginning of time. For centuries we’ve measured the passing of time, dating back to the ancient Egyptians, who told time through the use of primitive sundials. All things told, humans have been creating more and more advanced time keeping methods (with the first clock invented sometime in the fourteenth century somewhere in Europe) for the last six thousand or so years. The way that we view time has changed over the years as well, with different nations and cultures making adjustments to time as they see fit. For instance, in the Soviet Union five or six day weeks were attempted – though ultimately this was a failed experiment. And in the aftermath of the French Revolution, a ten hour clock was attempted to be instituted as part of everyday life. This too, failed, but these attempts show us that time is really and truly relative, and it is how we set our rules for time and how strictly we follow them that ensures our success.
Here in the United States, through the use of a PTP server as well as other technologies, we keep time keeping as uniform as we possible can. We measure twenty four hour days, sixty minute hours, and sixty second minutes – this is all common information that even the youngest of us knows. In fact, time keeping is taught as early as preschool or kindergarten, though it is true that less and less children are learning to read an analog clock (though all can tell time using a digital one). But there is still so much that many of us do not know about time and time keeping. For instance, the smallest measurement on time is called a Planck, which is a just a mere fraction of a second and recognizes traveling at the speed of light.
There are a number of strategies we use to keep time as uniform and efficient as possible, such as a PTP server. Aside from the utilization of a PTP server, we can help to be as accurate as possible with our time keeping through using something that is referred to a Network Time Protocol (or NTP) and internet protocol for standard times. An NTP clock is likely to be highly accurate and the NTP digital wall clock and other such devices have been in use for decades at this point, since 1985, meaning that they are a reliable source for telling time. Precision Time Protocol is another important implementation, as it works by synchronizing clocks through computer networks. Precision Time Protocol (also referred to as PTP) and the PTP server have been in use since the early 2000’s, 2002 to be precise.
From an accurate PTP server to a network time server and network wall clock, we do everything we can to keep time as accurate and functional as possible. However, we still make mistakes with time in our everyday lives. For instance, when it comes to logging our hours at work, there are more than fifty million work hours lost (as well as the subsequent billions of dollars that come with this) every single day do simply to improperly filled out time sheets and time logs. Though there is not one easy solution for the problem of accurately keeping time, implementations such as a PTP server are likely to help in this and in many situations regarding accurate time keeping.
