UDP

Attributes

• UDP is a Layer-4 protocol to send and receive data.
• It stands for User Datagram Protocol.
• It has an 8-byte header datagram.
• Use cases are:
  • Video streaming
  • VPN
  • DNS resolver
  • WebRTC

Pros

• It's a simple protocol with no connection establishment complexities.
• The header size is small (8 bytes), so datagrams are small.
• It uses less bandwidth.
• It's stateless.
• It consumes less memory (as stateless, with no state stored in the server/client)
• It has low latency - no handshake, order, retransmission, or guaranteed delivery.

Cons

• No acknowledgment from the client. The server does not care.
• No guarantee delivery
• Connection-less - anyone can send data without prior knowledge
• No flow control
• There is no congestion control or clue if the client can handle the data—just force feed.
• No ordered packets
• Security - can be easily spoofed.