Review: ClockSync II
Created by: Jeremy Kezer
Published by: Jeremy Kezer
E-Mail: <jbkezer@kagi.com>
Web: <http://www.kezer.net>
Street Price: $5 (3 User, sliding scale for more)
System Requirements
68020 Processor or better
Connection to an AppleTalk network
In some respects, my job is easy. All I have to do is keep all the Macs (among other things) running smoothly all the time. In our business, we pass files back and forth all day long. One guy uses it here, another guy uses it there, all day long.
If all the machines' clocks aren't identical, it's hard to know exactly when a file was last modified. System clocks can sometimes differ by as much as 15 minutes, so this is a bigger problem than it might seem. Well, finally I have a solution. It's an inexpensive one at that.
ClockSync is exceedingly simple to configure and use. On your Master computer, you set your geographical location in the Map control panel, turn on "Program Linking," set the proper time, and launch the ClockSync Master application. The true beauty of ClockSync is that it uses so few resources; there's no need to have it running on it's own Mac. I had it running on my Mac while I worked, for several days, with nary a crash.
The next step is to launch the ClockSync Servant application on one of your target Macs, and tell it where the Master is on your Network. The Servant then sets that Mac's time to the Master, counts down 15 seconds, and quits itself. Every time you launch the Servant after that, as long as the Master is up and running, the Servant will do it's job "auto-magically." You might even want to put a Servant alias in the Startup Items folder, so it can set the time at each start-up.
In conjunction with a freeware program like Vremya (an application that uses the Internet to set your Mac's time to the Network Time Protocol), your networked Macs never need to be out of sync again.
Copyright © 1998 Jake Tenenbaum, <jakers@loop.com>. Reviewing in ATPM
is open to anyone. If you're interested, write to us at <reviews@atpm.com>.
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