The Mysterious System That Synchronizes All the World’s Clocks

The time on your phone is wrong, The time on your computer is wrong and even the time on your old Nintendo DS is wrong.

But the strange thing is that they all almost too close to true to be.

It all started 40 years ago in the US state of Delaware.

time synchronization, It is provided by 19 main sources on the internet. These sources are the world’s most accurate atomic clocks and are often operated by government agencies.

These hours, the internet called Stratum 0 It forms the top layer.

Germany, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Found in countries such as Japan, Hawaii, Ontario, Colorado, Maryland and Spain, these clocks are the ultimate authority of time in the world.

After Stratum 0 hours, Stratum 1 servers arrive.

These servers It is the second most accurate of clocks. and is often directly tied to atomic clocks.

Stratum 2 servers take time from Stratum 1 servers and They are the most accurate computers available to the public.

For example Most commercial time servers, such as time.windows.com, They are Stratum 2 servers. Your computer is probably at Stratum 3 level and operates only a few milliseconds off the atomic clock.

So, how does this system work?

your computer, It records T0 time while retrieving the time from Stratum 0 servers. When this request reaches the Stratum 1 server, it records the T1 time and then sends the response.

When the response reaches you, you record time T2. Using these four timestamps, your computer’s time is taking into account internet latency and physical obstacles is set correctly.

This complex process It ensures the smooth functioning of the modern world. That little number in the corner of time is an incredible feat of infrastructure, physics and mathematics.

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