Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

Searchable, convenient, complete TCP/IP information.
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  TCP/IP Lower-Layer (Interface, Internet and Transport) Protocols (OSI Layers 2, 3 and 4)
      9  TCP/IP Transport Layer Protocols
           9  Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Previous Topic/Section
TCP Congestion Handling and Congestion Avoidance Algorithms
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
Next Page
TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols, Services and Applications (OSI Layers 5, 6 and 7)
Next Topic/Section

Summary Comparison of TCP/IP Transport Layer Protocols (UDP and TCP)

The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) are the “siblings” of the transport layer in the TCP/IP protocol suite. They perform the same role, providing an interface between applications and the data-moving capabilities of the Internet Protocol (IP), but they do it in very different ways. The two protocols thus provide choice to higher-layer protocols, allowing each to select the appropriate one depending on its needs.

I have described UDP and TCP in detail in their own sections. However, these sections take some time to read; the UDP section is several pages and the TCP section has many more! For your convenience I have included here Table 160, which helps illustrate the most important basic attributes of both protocols and how they contrast with each other:


Table 160: Summary Comparison of UDP and TCP

Characteristic / Description

UDP

TCP

General Description

Simple, high-speed, low-functionality “wrapper” that interfaces applications to the network layer and does little else.

Full-featured protocol that allows applications to send data reliably without worrying about network layer issues.

Protocol Connection Setup

Connectionless; data is sent without setup.

Connection-oriented; connection must be established prior to transmission.

Data Interface To Application

Message-based; data is sent in discrete packages by the application.

Stream-based; data is sent by the application with no particular structure.

Reliability and Acknowledgments

Unreliable, best-effort delivery without acknowledgments.

Reliable delivery of messages; all data is acknowledged.

Retransmissions

Not performed. Application must detect lost data and retransmit if needed.

Delivery of all data is managed, and lost data is retransmitted automatically.

Features Provided to Manage Flow of Data

None

Flow control using sliding windows; window size adjustment heuristics; congestion avoidance algorithms.

Overhead

Very low

Low, but higher than UDP

Transmission Speed

Very high

High, but not as high as UDP

Data Quantity Suitability

Small to moderate amounts of data (up to a few hundred bytes)

Small to very large amounts of data (up to gigabytes)

Types of Applications That Use The Protocol

Applications where data delivery speed matters more than completeness, where small amounts of data are sent; or where multicast/broadcast are used.

Most protocols and applications sending data that must be received reliably, including most file and message transfer protocols.

Well-Known
Applications and Protocols

Multimedia applications, DNS, BOOTP, DHCP, TFTP, SNMP, RIP, NFS (early versions)

FTP, Telnet, SMTP, DNS, HTTP, POP, NNTP, IMAP, BGP, IRC, NFS (later versions)


 


Previous Topic/Section
TCP Congestion Handling and Congestion Avoidance Algorithms
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
Next Page
TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols, Services and Applications (OSI Layers 5, 6 and 7)
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.