System Clocks

The primary means of determining whether a file has been updated is to check the date and time when it was last modified.  The accuracy of this information is dependent on the accuracy of the host systems' internal clocks.

Mismatched system clocks can cause incorrect operation and loss of data.

SyncDat will report the difference it observes between the local and remote clocks.  High network latency may cause this to display ±1 even if the clocks are perfectly synchronized.  A difference of more than one or two seconds may cause unexpected behavior and should be corrected.

SyncDat converts all times into Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).  This enables it to compensate for time-zone differences, provided that the time-zone of each system is correctly set.

If you change the clock on a local or remote system, wait at least as long as the time difference before running SyncDat again.  For example, if you adjust a clock by 27 minutes wait at least 27 minutes before running SyncDat.