Experiments in network clock synchronization
RFC 957, “Experiments in network clock synchronization”, is an Unknown document published in September 1985 by D.L. Mills. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
This RFC discusses some experiments in clock synchronization in the ARPA-Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. One of the services frequently neglected in computer network design is a high-quality, time-of-day clock capable of generating accurate timestamps with small errors compared to one-way network delays. Such a service would be useful for tracing the progress of complex transactions, synchronizing cached data bases, monitoring network performance and isolating problems. In this memo one such clock service design will be described and its performance assessed. This design has been incorporated as an integral part of the network routing and control protocols of the Distributed Computer Network (DCnet) architecture.
What “Unknown” means
The standards-track status of this early RFC was never formally classified.
The canonical text of RFC 957 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
- RFC 956 Algorithms for synchronizing network clocks
- RFC 958 Network Time Protocol
- RFC 955 Towards a transport service for transaction processing applications
- RFC 959 File Transfer Protocol
- RFC 954 NICNAME/WHOIS
- RFC 960 Assigned numbers
- RFC 953 Hostname Server
- RFC 961 Official ARPA-Internet protocols