Reader Challenge

I received a call from a frustrated systems administrator who was upgrading his OS to Windows 2000. His Win2K computers' Event Viewers kept giving him error messages that had W32 Time Service (W32Time) as the source of the problem. Client workstations that successfully logged on to domain controllers (DCs) displayed W32Time errors that showed no DC could be found. DCs displayed W32Time errors that indicated a lack of time synchronization.

Win2K's new time synchronization services confuse many systems administrators. To avoid Event Viewer errors, or if you plan to take the Win2K MCSE certification exams, start investigating this new feature. See if you can answer these questions, which provide some clues about the information you need to know to avoid errors and pass MCSE tests. (Answers appear on page 26.)

Questions

1. Which of the following Win2K components requires W32Time?

1. Active Directory (AD)
2. Netlogon
3. Kerberos
4. IntelliMirror

2. Win2K Professional uses W32Time to automatically synchronize time with which of the following?

1. Any Win2K server you designate as Win2K Pro's time source
2. The authenticating DC
3. Any DC on the subnet
4. >Any computer on any platform that you designate as Win2K Pro's time source

3. In networks with multiple DCs, W32Time synchronizes time for the DCs with which of the following?

1. Any Win2K server you designate
2. The PDC at the root of the forest
3. Any Win2K DC you designate
4. Any server, including Windows NT servers, you designate

4. Under W32Time, the computer that is the source of the correct time must synchronize with which of the following?

1. An external source that you use the Internet to access and that uses Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP)
2. Any Win2K DC you designate (including over a WAN) that uses SNTP
3. Any Win2K DC you designate that is on the same subnet and that uses SNTP
4. Any server running Win2K or NT 4.0 (you must enter the command net time /s)

End of Article