The Ultimate Guide to User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

What is User Datagram Protocol(UDP)?

The David P. Reed developed the UDP protocol in 1980. It is defined in RFC 768, and it is a part of the TCP/IP protocol, so it is a standard protocol over the internet. The UDP protocol allows the computer applications to send the messages in the form of datagrams from one machine to another machine over the Internet Protocol.

The User Datagram Protocol(UDP) is a communications protocol for computer networks that provides best-effort delivery of datagrams. It is used in the Internet Protocol Suite for most applications, but not all applications use it. It was designed to be connectionless and provide best-effort service in the network layer.

The UDP protocol is commonly used as a server or client application transport layer protocol.

How does User Datagram Protocol (UDP) work?

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a transport layer protocol that provides connectionless datagram service over IP networks.

When you send a message, it is broken up into small pieces and sent to the destination host in discrete packets. Each packet has a header, which contains routing information and source and destination addresses. The overhead for each packet is small, so even if many packets are sent at the same time, the total overhead for the transmission will be minimal.

UDP does not guarantee reliable delivery of messages but it does provide some error checking to help ensure that data arrives intact.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Header Format

UDP is a protocol for delivering data, known as datagrams, over the Internet. It is used as a transport layer protocol in computer networks.

The UDP header has four fields:

1. Source port number : It is 16-bit information that identifies which port is going t send the packet.
2. Destination port number: It identifies which port is going to accept the information. It is 16-bit information which is used to identify application-level service on the destination machine.
3. Length of the message being sent: It is 16-bit field that specifies the entire length of the UDP packet that includes the header also. The minimum value would be 8-byte as the size of the header is 8 bytes.
4. Checksum: This field stores the checksum value generated by the sender before sending. IPv4 has this field as optional so when checksum field does not contain any value it is made 0 and all its bits are set to zero.

What are the benefits of using User Datagram Protocol?

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a communications protocol for a computer network that uses packets, called datagrams, to transmit data across a computer network.

The benefits of using User Datagram Protocol are:

• The main benefit of using User Datagram Protocol is that it’s relatively simple. It doesn’t require the use of sophisticated networking technology like TCP/IP and it’s not as resource-intensive as other protocols like HTTP or FTP.
• UDP was designed to be lightweight and efficient. It’s also typically faster than other protocols because it doesn’t require the overhead of setting up an entire connection before sending data.
• It reduces the size of packets.
• It provides reliable delivery.
• It supports connectionless communications.

What are the Applications of UDP (User Datagram Protocol) 

User Datagram Protocol is a connectionless protocol that uses IP packets to send messages between two or more computers.

The applications of UDP are vast. They range from streaming media, gaming, to Internet services such as web hosting and e-mail.

UDP is used for:

• Streaming media: UDP is often used for live streaming because it has the ability to stream without the need of a fixed connection between the sender and receiver. It also does not require any form of acknowledgement from the receiver.
• Gaming: UDP can be used for games that require a high amount of bandwidth because it does not need an acknowledgement from the receiver before sending data. This means that there will be no lag in processing speed, which can be very beneficial in multiplayer games where players must react quickly to certain events.
• File Sharing: TCP is used for file sharing protocols because it needs an acknowledgment from the receiver before sending data. This means that there will be less lag in processing speed, which is beneficial for file sharing protocols such as BitTorrent.

What are the Features of UDP (User Datagram Protocol) 

UDP is a protocol that is used for on-demand service. It is a connectionless protocol and it doesn’t require any acknowledgments or sequencing.

UDP has many features some of them are:

• Connectionless: UDP works without any acknowledgment or sequencing of packets.
• Datagrams: UDP uses datagrams to transmit data from one network node to another network node without the need of establishing a connection first.
• No Reliable Transport Protocol (RTP): UDP does not use RTP for reliable delivery of data packets, so it cannot be used in a reliable transport environment like TCP/IP.
• No Packet Filtering: UDP packets are not filtered, which makes it difficult to prevent data corruption when using UDP and/or UDP-based protocols.