<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 synchronized 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 synchronization. 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 
Synchronization Server </ulink>.</para>

</article>
