UTC Only Storage
UTC Only Storage is a data storage design pattern where all timestamps are stored exclusively in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format, without timezone offsets or local time conversions. This approach ensures consistency and avoids ambiguity in date-time handling across distributed systems and applications. It simplifies time-based operations, such as sorting, filtering, and calculations, by using a single, standardized time reference.
Developers should adopt UTC Only Storage when building applications that operate across multiple time zones or require precise time synchronization, such as in global e-commerce platforms, financial systems, or IoT data logging. It prevents common pitfalls like daylight saving time errors and timezone mismatches, making data more reliable for analytics and reporting. This pattern is particularly useful in microservices architectures or databases where data might be accessed from various geographical locations.