Which of the following should a company use to implement automatic time synchronization?

NTP (Network Time Protocol) is the standard Internet protocol designed specifically for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over a network. It allows devices to request and receive time from a designated, authoritative time server, ensuring that all systems on the network maintain accurate and consistent time. Implementing an NTP server within a company's network or configuring clients to use a public NTP server achieves automatic time synchronization.

A. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) automatically assigns IP addresses and other network settings but does not perform time synchronization itself.

B. UTM (Unified Threat Management) is a security appliance that consolidates various security functions; it is not a time synchronization protocol.

D. AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) is a security framework for controlling access to network resources, unrelated to timekeeping.

1. Mills, D. L. (2010). Network Time Protocol Version 4: Protocol and Algorithms Specification. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFC 5905. Section 1, "Introduction," states, "The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is widely used to synchronize computer clocks in the Internet." DOI: 10.17487/RFC5905.

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). (2023). What is Network Time Protocol (NTP) and how does it work? MIT Information Systems & Technology Knowledge Base. KB0013321. This article describes NTP as a protocol "for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks."