In the world of technology, a user is free to choose the internet protocol in order to tackle or manage the server traffic. With the increase in the usage of technology, everyone has become fully dependent on the tech world. None is ready to compromise with the Network, Servers and Data Protocols as these might affect their work balance and lives as well.
Similarly, in order to control and access Internet Protocol Traffic, one is free to choose the right protocol for him or her depending upon his or her usage. The two major and important internet protocols are-
- TCP
- UDP
What is TCP?
TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol which deals with the study of connection orientation of protocols. In simple words, TCP determines that a device must establish the connection before sending, receiving or exchanging the data or information and should close the connection as well after sending, receiving or exchanging the data and information. It has a built-in system for checking, correcting and identifying the errors which is completely reliable.
What is UDP?
UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol which deals with the study of datagram orientation of protocols. In simple words, UDP determines that a pre-established connection is not required to share or exchange the data and information. It does not involve error checking and is not ideal for sending and receiving emails, viewing web pages or downloading a file. It is mostly used in real-time connections and sending broadcasting messages.
Difference Between TCP and UDP
The TCP and UDP protocols are differentiated on the following enlisted basis-
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) | User Datagram Protocol (UDP) | |
Speed | Slower than UDP | Faster than TCP |
Data Sequencing | Data is sequenced | Data is not sequenced |
Retransmission | Lost data can be recovered | Lost data can not be recovered |
Weight | Highly weighing | Low weighing |
Protocols | HTTP, HTTPs, FTP, SMTP and Telnet | DNS, DHCP, TFTP, SNMP, RIP, and VoIP |
Stream Type | Byte stream protocol | Message stream protocol |
Reliability | Completely reliable | Not reliable |
Connection | Connection-based protocol and end-to-end communication | Connectionless protocol and no end-to-end communication |
Guaranteed Delivery | Guarantees the delivery of data and information | Does not guarantee the delivery of data and information |
Acknowledgement | Includes the acknowledgement segment for the secure and complete transmission of the data and information | Does not include the acknowledgement segment for secure and complete transmission of the data and information |
Examples of TCP and UDP protocol
The best way to explain and understand the TCP and UDP protocol is through real life examples.
- Text Communication –
Since everyone is aware of the importance of Text Communication in the present era no one is ready to tolerate any sort of discrepancy in texting between the sender and the receiver. Hence, TCP is the best protocol to be used in Text Communication due to its reliability, and error control.
For instance: Whatsapp, Instagram, Google Chat, etc…
- Transfer of files or FTP –
TCP protocol is used while File transferring to ensure that the data and information is shared completely and securely. FTP requires two TCP connections-
- Control Connection
- Data Connection.
For instance: FileZilla and Servers, etc…
- HyperText Transfer Protocol –
HTTP is hence used to manage all the data present on the World Wide Web as it uses the TCP protocol to access the web pages on the internet. Since the TCP provides error control and retransmission of data segments, it is highly used in the network domain.
- Simple Mail Transfer Protocol –
SMTP is a layering protocol commonly used in sending Emails from one system to another system which further uses the services of TCP to establish a connection with the SMTP server. And, the moment it accepts the connection request, it allows the sender to send the mails.
For instance: Yahoo, Gmail, etc…
- Online Gaming –
All the online games we play require the UDP protocol. Though the players never compromise with the quality of network available to play the game, he or she seeks to install the best server available in that particular area or region. And, since UDP protocol is the fastest protocol, it does not let the players face any lagging or connectivity issues as no amount of delay is welcomed by the online gamers across the globe.
For instance: All the available online games
- Video Conferencing –
All the Video Conferencing apps use the services of UDP protocol as it is faster than the TCP protocol and it can not manage to have any delays in the exchange of data and information.
For instance: Skype, Google Meet, and Zoom, etc…
- Voice Over IP(VoIP) –
VoIP is almost similar to Video Conferencing and its services, where the apps use the UDP protocol for converting one’s voice to digital data and further transmits it over the whole network. For instance: Whatsapp Voice calling and Wi-Fi calling, etc…
- Domain Name System –
DNS is a service used to map the domain names of the IP addressing and the application layering as it can be looked at as a distributed DataBase having a hierarchical named Server. It further uses the UDP protocol for fetching all the IP addresses as it is faster than the TCP protocol and hence manages to provide a high speed service to all the servers and networks installed.
FAQs:
The basic difference between both the protocols is that TCP is a connection oriented protocol while UDP is a connectionless protocol.
Both the protocols, TCP and UDP are used to send the data from one server to the another.
The UDP protocol provides higher speed than the TCP protocol.
TCP is more reliable than the UDP protocol.
TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol while UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol.
TCP is used in FTPs and text communication while UDP is used in online games, and video conferences.