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Time Synchronization

A good audit log should record a synchronized timestamp that allows an end customer to determine with a high level of confidence:

  • The human-readable time an event occured,for example:

sheet.create occurred at 2017-01-01 17:45:22.011

  • The ordering of events, for example

sheet.create occured before sheet.update

Wall Time vs. Causal Ordering​

It's not always possible to have both a human-readable "wall time" and a causally consistent sequencing of events. When forced to trade between a human-readable wall time and a causally consistent sequencing of events, an Audit Log should favor causal consistency over a precise wall time. In a best-case scenario, protocols like Network Time Protocol (NTP) can allow for a high level of accuracy in both.

Recording Time in Retraced​

Retraced allows clients to specify a created time for any event. In addition to allowing clients to report event timing, the Retraced Publisher API will record an NTP-synchronized received timestamp for all events.