For data collection, having an accurate timestamp is crucial for capturing time-series data than can be compared to other datasets with consistent timestamps. Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a network communication standard that is designed to keep all computers communicating with an NTP server accurate within a few milliseconds of each other. By checking the time with the NTP server periodically, you can ensure your network machines are all time synchronized. There are several public servers available on the Internet to use; let's talk to one!
My Raspbian installation already had NTP running; we can validate this from the terminal window. Either way, you can install it with apt-get. If your installation has ntp already going, you'll get the same message as follows. If not, apt-get will take care of it for you.
pi@rpz14101:~$ sudo apt-get install ntp Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information...