What Is The Full Form Of UDP?

The full form of UDP is User Datagram Protocol.

UDP is a communication protocol that makes messaging easy between various computing devices in a network. This message-oriented protocol works for data paths and communication channels. It is also called UDP/IP in the networks that use IP (Internet Protocols), and it is an alternative to TCP (transmission control protocol). It is a message-oriented communication protocol used for communication channels and data paths.

UDP deploys a connectionless communication model where the initializing protocol mechanisms are minimal. Thus, the protocol works well with applications that require loss tolerating connections and low latency. UDP also disowns certain features available with other similar protocols- thus allowing fast communication on low bandwidth networks. As a result, it works well in Web Streaming, VoIP, Gaming, Broadcasting, etc.

How Does UDP Work?

This protocol divides the messages into datagrams (packets). The devices in the network forward them to the destination server/application. Such devices may include routers, switches, security gateways, etc.

The function of UDP is not to number/reassemble the datagrams. But it does incorporate the port numbers on datagram headers. It helps distinguish various user requests along with an optional checksum capability that can help verify the integrity of the data transferred.

Characteristics of UDP

• Connection – UDP is a connectionless protocol. Thus, its network doesn’t require a handshake for establishing a connection.
• Overhead – Since it doesn’t require a connection for establishing the protocol, it doesn’t have to maintain any ongoing connections. As a result, the overhead gets very low.
• Acknowledgment – The sender sends the data unilaterally. Thus, it requires no interaction of the recipient system. For instance, it doesn’t require sending an acknowledgment about the packets received.
• Order – The sent data may not arrive in the intended order by UDA.
• Speed – It is faster than the other similar protocols, and thus, it requires fewer resources for efficient functioning.

Advantages of UDP

• It has a smaller header size (8 bytes). As a result, less data needs to be transmitted.
• UDP doesn’t require a handshake before data transmission.
• It can be both broadcast and multicast. Thus, it allows the existence of a one-to-many protocol.
• It doesn’t have a policy for intact data transfers. So, it doesn’t resend the lost data packets. As a result, the current results don’t get congested.

Disadvantages of UDP

• There’s no compensation for the lost packets.
• There’s no significant mechanism for detecting any error. And therefore, the data received can be erroneous.
• UDA doesn’t deliver the data in order. It’s out of order at the receiving end, due to which the receiver needs to rearrange it. This step further requires some computation.
• This protocol doesn’t delay data transmission when the network is congested. It leads to a delay in packet delivery or even packet loss.

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