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Networking Beginner

What is TCP vs UDP?

Two transport layer protocols: TCP provides reliable, ordered delivery while UDP provides fast, connectionless delivery without guarantees.

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) establishes connections, guarantees delivery, maintains order, and handles congestion. It is used for web browsing, email, file transfer, and SSH where reliability matters.

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is connectionless, lightweight, and fast but does not guarantee delivery or order. It is used for video streaming, gaming, DNS queries, and VoIP where speed matters more than perfect reliability.

Related Terms

TCP/IP
The fundamental communication protocol suite of the internet that defines how data is packaged, addressed, transmitted, and received.
OSI Model
The seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection model that standardizes network communication functions from physical transmission to application protocols.
IP Address
A unique numerical label assigned to each device on a computer network for identification and communication.
CIDR Notation
A compact method for specifying IP addresses and their associated routing prefix using a slash followed by the prefix length.
DNS Propagation
The time it takes for DNS record changes to spread across all DNS servers worldwide, typically taking up to 48 hours.
Network Segmentation
The practice of dividing a network into isolated segments to improve security, performance, and management.
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