UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a connectionless transport protocol that operates without a handshake process. Unlike TCP, it does not track connection states or acknowledge receipt of data. Information is sent as independent datagrams, which may arrive out of sequence or be dropped entirely without triggering a retransmission.
The protocol functions with minimal overhead to ensure low latency. The UDP header is strictly 8 bytes long, containing source/destination ports, length, and checksum. By removing flow control and congestion management, UDP allows applications to send data at the maximum rate supported by the network path.
UDP is applied in real-time environments where speed is prioritized over reliability, such as VoIP, video conferencing, and online games. It is also the standard for infrastructure services like DNS and SNMP.
Key Features
- Zero latency overhead for connection establishment.
- Native support for broadcast and multicast traffic.
- Foundation for
QUICto eliminate head-of-line blocking inHTTP/3.