User Datagram Protocol

aliases:

A connectionless protocol that sends packets to the receiver regardless of checking for receipt.

UDP is a connectionless, nonguaranteed method of communication that has no acknowledgements or flow control. There is no way to confirm the delivery of packets, it's spray and pray. If an application needs the speed of UDP but some reliability mechanisms, they need to be programmed into the application itself.

Why use UDP?

UDP is used in applications that send small amounts of data that don't need confirmation of delivery. Application layer protocols that send multicast or broadcast traffic use UDP, along with time-sensitive apps like voice/video communication platforms.

UDP Packet Header (8 bytes total)

Source Port
Destination Port
Message Length
Checksum

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