Differences between TCP and UDP

The main differences between TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User
Datagram Protocol) are:

Transmission Control Protocol

Basis (TCP) User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

UDP is the Datagram-oriented

TCP is a connection-oriented protocol. protocol. This is because
Connection there is no overhead for opening a
orientation means that the communicating connection, maintaining a
Type of Service devices should establish a connection before connection, or terminating a
transmitting data and should close the connection. UDP is efficient for
connection after transmitting the data. broadcast and multicast types of
network transmission.

TCP is reliable as it guarantees the delivery The delivery of data to the destination
Reliability
of data to the destination router. cannot be guaranteed in UDP.

TCP provides extensive error-checking

mechanisms. UDP has only the basic error-
Error checking
checking mechanism using
mechanism It is because it provides flow control and
checksums.
acknowledgment of data.

Acknowledgment An acknowledgment segment is present. No acknowledgment segments.

Sequencing of data is a feature of

Transmission Control There is no sequencing of data in
Sequence UDP. If the order is required, it has to
Protocol (TCP). this means that packets
be managed by the application layer.
arrive in order at the receiver.

UDP is faster, simpler, and more

Speed TCP is comparatively slower than UDP.
efficient than TCP.

There is no retransmission of lost

Retransmission of lost packets is possible in
Retransmission packets in the User Datagram
TCP, but not in UDP.
Protocol (UDP).

Handshaking Uses handshakes such as SYN, ACK, SYN- It’s a connectionless protocol i.e. No
Techniques ACK handshake
 Transmission Control Protocol
Basis (TCP) User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Broadcasting TCP doesn’t support Broadcasting. UDP supports Broadcasting.

OSI Model: Open-source interconnection model

OSI developed by International standard organization (ISO)

7 Layer of OSI Model

 1. Application Layer:
• The Application Layer provides a network interface to software applications,
allowing them to access network services. It defines how applications interact with
the network.
• HTTP is the protocol used for transmitting web pages and associated content
between web servers and web browsers. When you enter a URL (Uniform Resource
Locator) into your browser's address bar and hit Enter, the browser uses HTTP to
request the corresponding web page from the server.
• Protocols like SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for sending emails and POP3
(Post Office Protocol 3) and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) for receiving
emails operate at the Application Layer.

• Protocols like FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer
Protocol) operate at the Application Layer and facilitate the transfer of files between
systems.

2. Presentation layer:

The Presentation layer of the OSI model converts data formats between applications and the
networks. Responsibilities of the presentation layer include:
 • Data translation - The Presentation Layer responsible for translating to understood by both
the sender and the receiver.
• Data compression- The Presentation Layer can compress data to reduce the amount of data
that needs to be transmitted over the network. This helps in optimizing bandwidth usage
and improving transmission efficiency.
• Encryption and decryption- It provides encryption and decryption services to secure the
data during transmission. This is particularly important for sensitive information to prevent
unauthorized access.

3. Session Layer:

Its primary function is to establish, manage, and terminate communication sessions between two
devices. A communication session is a period during which data is exchanged between systems,
and the Session Layer ensures that this process is organized and controlled.

4.Transport Layer:

• The transport layer provides mechanisms such as error control, flow control, and
congestion control to keep track of the data packets, check for errors and duplication, and
resend the information that fails delivery. It involves the service-point addressing function
to ensure that the packet is sent in response to a specific process (via a port address).

• Packet Segmentation and reassembly ensure that the data is divided and sequentially sent
to the destination where it is rechecked for integrity and accuracy based on the receiving
sequence.

• Common protocols include the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for connection-
oriented data transmission and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for connectionless data
transmission.

5. Network layer:
The services which are offered by the network layer are as follows:
1. Packetizing
2. Routing
3. Forwarding

In this layer data is divided into packets. The network layer is responsible for routing the data.
The network layer implements logical addressing for data packets to distinguish between the
source and destination networks.
Network layer hardware includes routes, bridge routers, 3-layer switches, and protocols such as
Internet (IPv4) Protocol version 4 and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

6. Data link layer:

The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit stream into packets known as Frames. The
Data link layer adds the header and trailer to the frame. The header which is added to the frame
contains the hardware destination and source address.

Mac address assign for both source and destination device.

7. Physical Layer:

o The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the individual bits from one node to
another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
 o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network interface specifications.

Functions of a Physical layer:

o Line Configuration: It defines the way how two or more devices can be connected physically.
o Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is simplex, half-duplex or full-
duplex mode between the two devices on the network.
o Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
o Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.

TCP/IP Model
The OSI Model we just looked at is just a reference/logical model. It was designed to describe the
functions of the communication system by dividing the communication procedure into smaller and
simpler components. But when we talk about the TCP/IP model, it was designed and developed by
Department of Defense (DoD) in 1960s and is based on standard protocols. It stands for Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The TCP/IP model is a concise version of the OSI model. It
contains four layers, unlike seven layers in the OSI model. The layers are:
1. Process/Application Layer
2. Host-to-Host/Transport Layer
3. Internet Layer
4. Network Access/Link Layer
The diagrammatic comparison of the TCP/IP and OSI model is as follows:

Difference between TCP/IP and OSI Model:

 TCP/IP OSI

TCP refers to Transmission Control Protocol. OSI refers to Open Systems Interconnection.

TCP/IP has 4 layers. OSI has 7 layers.

TCP/IP is more reliable OSI is less reliable

TCP/IP does not have very strict boundaries. OSI has strict boundaries

TCP/IP uses both session and presentation OSI uses different session and presentation
layer in the application layer itself. layers.

TCP/IP developed protocols then model. OSI developed model then protocol.

Transport layer in TCP/IP does not provide In OSI model, transport layer provides
assurance delivery of packets. assurance delivery of packets.

While in OSI model, Protocols are better

Protocols cannot be replaced easily in TCP/IP covered and is easy to replace with the
model. change in technology.

The first layer is the Process layer on the behalf of the sender and Network Access layer on the behalf
of the receiver. During this article, we will be talking on the behalf of the receiver.
1. Network Access Layer –

This layer corresponds to the combination of Data Link Layer and Physical Layer of the OSI model. It
looks out for hardware addressing and the protocols present in this layer allows for the physical
transmission of data.

2. Internet Layer –
This layer parallels the functions of OSI’s Network layer. It defines the protocols which are responsible
for logical transmission of data over the entire network. The main protocols residing at this layer are:
1. IP – stands for Internet Protocol and it is responsible for delivering packets from the source host
to the destination host by looking at the IP addresses in the packet headers. IP has 2 versions:

IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 is the one that most of the websites are using currently. But IPv6 is growing
as the number of IPv4 addresses are limited in number when compared to the number of users.
2. ICMP – stands for Internet Control Message Protocol. It is encapsulated within IP datagrams
and is responsible for providing hosts with information about network problems. Ping is the ICMP
echo message.
The Ping tool is used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an IP network.
A Ping measures the time it takes for packets to be sent from the local host to a destination computer
and back. The Ping tool measures and records the round-trip time of the packet and any losses along
the way.

3. ARP – stands for Address Resolution Protocol. Its job is to find the hardware address of a host
from a known IP address. ARP has several types: Reverse ARP, Proxy ARP, Gratuitous ARP and
Inverse ARP.
 4. RARP - The basic purpose of the Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP) is to convert ethernet
addresses to IP addresses. RARP enables diskless machines to find their IP addresses at boot time.

3. Host-to-Host Layer –

This layer is analogous to the transport layer of the OSI model. It is responsible for end-to-end
communication and error-free delivery of data. It shields the upper-layer applications from the
complexities of data. The two main protocols present in this layer are :
1. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) – It is known to provide reliable and error-free
communication between end systems. It performs sequencing and segmentation of data. It also
has acknowledgment feature and controls the flow of the data through flow control mechanism. It
is a very effective protocol but has a lot of overhead due to such features. Increased overhead
leads to increased cost.
2. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) – On the other hand does not provide any such features. It is
the go-to protocol if your application does not require reliable transport as it is very cost-effective.
Unlike TCP, which is connection-oriented protocol, UDP is connectionless.

Differences between TCP and UDP

TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL (TCP) USER DATAGRAM PROTOCOL (UDP)

TCP is a connection-oriented protocol. Connection- UDP is the Datagram oriented protocol. This is because
orientation means that the communicating devices there is no overhead for opening a connection,
should establish a connection before transmitting data maintaining a connection, and terminating a
and should close the connection after transmitting the connection. UDP is efficient for broadcast and multicast
data. type of network transmission.

TCP is reliable as it guarantees delivery of data to the The delivery of data to the destination cannot be
destination router. guaranteed in UDP.

TCP provides extensive error checking mechanisms. It

is because it provides flow control and UDP has only the basic error checking mechanism using
acknowledgment of data. checksums.
 TRANSMISSION CONTROL PROTOCOL (TCP) USER DATAGRAM PROTOCOL (UDP)

Sequencing of data is a feature of Transmission

Control Protocol (TCP). this means that packets arrive There is no sequencing of data in UDP. If ordering is
in-order at the receiver. required, it has to be managed by the application layer.

TCP is comparatively slower than UDP. UDP is faster, simpler and more efficient than TCP.

Retransmission of lost packets is possible in TCP, but There is no retransmission of lost packets in User
not in UDP. Datagram Protocol (UDP).

TCP has a (20-80) bytes variable length header. UDP has a 8 bytes fixed length header.

TCP is heavy-weight. UDP is lightweight.

TCP doesn’t supports Broadcasting. UDP supports Broadcasting.

TCP is used by HTTP, HTTPs, FTP, SMTP and Telnet. UDP is used by DNS, DHCP, TFTP, SNMP, RIP, and VoIP.

4. Application Layer –

This layer performs the functions of top three layers of the OSI model: Application, Presentation and
Session Layer. It is responsible for node-to-node communication and controls user-interface
specifications. Some of the protocols present in this layer are: HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, TFTP, Telnet, SSH,
SMTP, SNMP, NTP, DNS, DHCP, NFS, X Window, LPD. Have a look at Protocols in Application
Layer for some information about these protocols. Protocols other than those present in the linked
article are:

1. HTTP and HTTPS – HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol. It is used by the World Wide
Web to manage communications between web browsers and servers. HTTPS stands for HTTP-
Secure. It is a combination of HTTP with SSL(Secure Socket Layer). It is efficient in cases where
the browser need to fill out forms, sign in, authenticate and carry out bank transactions.

2. SSH – SSH stands for Secure Shell. It is a terminal emulations software similar to Telnet. The
reason SSH is more preferred is because of its ability to maintain the encrypted connection. It sets
up a secure session over a TCP/IP connection.
3. NTP – NTP stands for Network Time Protocol. It is used to synchronize the clocks on our
computer to one standard time source. It is very useful in situations like bank transactions. Assume
the following situation without the presence of NTP. Suppose you carry out a transaction, where
your computer reads the time at 2:30 PM while the server records it at 2:28 PM. The server can
crash very badly if it’s out of sync.

4. DNS - The Domain Network System (DNS) protocol helps Internet users and network devices discover
websites using human-readable hostnames, instead of numeric IP addresses.
5. FTP: File transfer protocol (FTP) is a set of rules that computers follow for the transferring of files from one
system to another over the internet. It may be used by a business to transfer files from one computer system
to another, or websites may use FTP to upload or download files from a website's server.

6. Telnet - TELNET stands for TErminaL NETwork. It is a type of protocol that enables one computer to connect
to local computer. It is a used as a standard TCP/IP protocol for virtual terminal service which is given by ISO.
Computer which starts connection known as the local computer. Computer which is being connected to i.e.
which accepts the connection known as remote computer. When the connection is established between local
and remote computer. During telnet operation whatever that is performing on the remote computer will be
displayed by local computer. Telnet operates on client/server principle. Local computer uses telnet client
program and the remote computers uses telnet server program.