What does the Network Time Protocol (NTP) synchronize across a network of computers?

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is primarily designed to synchronize the clocks of computers over a network, ensuring that all devices have the same accurate time. This is crucial for various applications, especially in environments where time-sensitive data and events need to be coordinated. Accurate timekeeping is also vital for logging events, security protocols, and distributed systems where timing discrepancies can lead to errors or data inconsistency.

Synchronizing time helps maintain the integrity of transactions and operations across different systems. Without proper synchronization, you can encounter issues like timestamp discrepancies in logs, which can complicate troubleshooting and monitoring processes. By operating at various hierarchical levels, NTP effectively minimizes the time offset and maintains clock accuracy between servers and clients.

Other options like application data, system performance metrics, and network speed do not fall under the purview of what NTP manages, as these are unrelated aspects of network and computing environments. While they may also be important for system performance and analysis, they are not the primary focus of NTP functionality.