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Cisco Small Business 300 Series Managed Switch Administration Guide  49
 
System Time
Network time synchronization is critical because every aspect of managing, 
securing, planning, and debugging a network involves determining when events 
occur. Time also provides the only frame of reference between all devices on the 
network. Without synchronized time, accurately correlating log files between 
these devices is difficult, even impossible. 
A few of the specific reasons include, tracking security breaches, network usage. 
Problems affecting a large number of components can be nearly impossible to 
track if timestamps in logs are inaccurate. 
Time also reduces confusion in shared file systems, as it is important for the 
modification times to be consistent, regardless of the machine on which the 
filesystems reside. 
For these reasons, it is important that the time configured on the all devices on the 
network be accurate.
NOTE The switch supports Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) and when enabled, the 
switch dynamically synchronizes the switch time with the SNTP server time. The 
switch operates only as an SNTP client, and cannot provide time services to other 
devices. 
This chapter describes the options for configuring system time, time zone, and 
Daylight Savings Time (DST). It includes the following topics: 
• System Time Options
• Configuring System Time
• Setting SNTP
• Defining SNTP Authentication