<article lang="&language;" id="rdate"> <title >rdate</title> <para > A protocol to retrieve the date and time from a time server. </para> <para > It will query a &URL; of an <acronym >RFC</acronym > 868 time server. </para> <para > The syntax is <userinput >rdate://servername</userinput >, and the date will be returned in the format <computeroutput >DDD MMM DD HH:MM:SS YYYY</computeroutput ></para> <para > Network operations require time synchronised information to ensure optimal network performance. </para> <para > Computer clocks are notorious for drifting. So it's a very good idea to set up time synchronisation. You will need root privileges to do this. </para> <para > See the manual: <ulink url="man:/date" >date</ulink > and <ulink url="man:/netdate" >netdate</ulink >. </para> <para > See : <ulink url="http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~ntp" > Time Synchronisation Server </ulink >.</para> </article>