UTC or GMT time in SQL Server 2005/2008

SQL Server 2005/2008 has a GETUTCDATE() function that retreives the local machine's date and time without the time zone offset, representing the current UTC time (Coordinated Universal Time) or GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

If you need a more fractional seconds precision, use the SYSUTCDATETIME instead of GETUTCDATE()

Let's see the results when running some common date and time functions in SQL Server:

SELECT GETDATE() - 2009-03-28 13:08:37.553

SELECT SYSDATETIME() - 2009-03-28 13:08:37.5570000

SELECT GETUTCDATE() - 2009-03-28 07:38:37.557

SELECT SYSUTCDATETIME() - 2009-03-28 07:38:37.5570000

SELECT SYSDATETIMEOFFSET() - 2009-03-28 13:08:37.5570000 +05:30

As you can observe, the SYSDATETIME and SYSUTCDATETIME are used to display time with fractional second precision. The SYSDATETIMEOFFSET displays the time zone offset.

To find a difference between the Local time and UTC time use this query:

SELECT DATEDIFF(MINUTE,GetDate(),GetUTCDate());

Note: You may also want to checkout the SYSUTCDATETIME SWITCHOFFSET and TODATETIMEOFFSET functions

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