User Datagram Protocol

User Datagram Protocol

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is defined in RFC 768. UDP is a
Connectionless protocol. It uses IP to send datagrams in a similar way
to TCP, but UDP does not check or care whether packets arrive at their
destination or not (fire and forget). UDP is used in applications where it
is not essential for 100% of the packets to arrive, such as:
• Streamed audio/video.
• Some remote control applications, e.g. NetOP.
• Where the application itself implements error control, e.g. DNS
lookups.
UDP is often faster due to its lower overheads through the absence of
any initiation requirements or session checking.
More recently, Internet applications have used both UDP and TCP. TCP
is used for the essential or Control data, while UDP is used for data for
which losses are acceptable.