TCP vs UDP Security Explained

Which is better, TCP or UDP?

There are two types of Internet Protocol (IP) traffic. They are TCP or Transmission Control Protocol and UDP or User Datagram Protocol. TCP is connection oriented – once a connection is established, data can be sent bidirectional. UDP is a simpler, connection-less Internet protocol. Multiple messages are sent as packets in chunks using UDP.

Difference in Transfer Data Features

Which is better depends of the type of application that your building and business needs.  Normal text communication through UDP could end up in the wrong order when it comes across, but TCP it will come across the same why sent.  Some text could even be lost in translation.  There no guarantees with UDP.  TCP is the one to go with for text communication.  TCP is also the right choice when data loss is not an option.  TCP should be used for file transfers and things like remote access or SSH.  Another difference is that TCP offers transmittance when UDP does not.  UDP is often used in multimedia streaming when transfers are a little less ambiguous.  UDP also requires less overhead, no send delay and the data loss can easily be masked.  Some firewalls do block UDP so if you have the bandwidth and overhead doesn’t deteriorate performance TCP is the way to go.

Different Applications of TCP and UDP

Web browsing, email and file transfer are common applications that make use of TCP. TCP is used to control segment size, rate of data exchange, flow control and network congestion. TCP is preferred where error correction facilities are required at network interface level. UDP is largely used by time sensitive applications as well as by servers that answer small queries from huge number of clients. UDP is compatible with packet broadcast – sending to all on a network and multicasting – sending to all subscribers. UDP is commonly used in Domain Name System, Voice over IP, Trivial File Transfer Protocol and online games.