| There are two components to
TimeQwest.
The Time Server
component is installed in one computer in your network and its function
is to broadcast the time from that machine to other computers in your
network. The Time
Client component is installed on all the other computers
in your network and its function is to retrieve the correct time from
the Time Server
and set the clock on each computer accordingly. The computer you
designate as a Time
Server gets the correct time from an
Atomic Time Server
over the Internet. These
Atomic Time Servers
are very accurate, so the time settings in all the computers around your
network will only be off by the amount of time it takes to retrieve a
few bytes of data over the Internet.
If you have multiple locations with their own
local area networks, you can install a
TimeQwest
in each location, ensuring that they all have the correct date and time
settings. For computers that are not always connected to a LAN
(Local Area Network), such as notebook computers, you can configure
TimeQwest
to run in Stand-Alone
mode. This is a special setting for the
Time Client that
retrieves the time from the Internet instead of from a
Time Server in
your LAN. The
Stand-Alone mode is also useful in settings when the
users do work from home computers taht need to be synchronized with the
office and when you have locations with only one computer.
If your computer is not connected to either the
Internet or to your network and it fails to retrieve the time as
scheduled, it simply waits till the next scheduled time. The
Time Client
window shows how many times it has tried to retrieve the time and how
many times it succeeded. It also shows you when the next attempt
will be made. At anytime you can manually request to retrieve the
time.
TimeQwest uses the time zone information you specify in
your Windows settings. So it can automatically adjust to any area
in the world and it handles daylight savings time without any problem.
The
Time Client and
Time Server
are installed in your computers as
Windows Services,
and they start automatically when you boot your computers. As part
of the configuration, you specify how often each computer will retrieve
the correct time. You can set the time interval to anywhere
between every hour to every ten days in one hour intervals.
By default, the
Services are
minimized to icons in your computer's system tray and do not take up any
real estate on your desktop. The programs are very compact, so
they do not slow your computer down at all.
TimeQwest
works on computers running Windows XP (All editions), 2003 Server,
Windows 2000 (Professional or Server), NT and WindowsME. The
programs can run on Windows 98 machines, but not as services. |