Unpacking TCP and UDP: The Cornerstones of Networking Protocols

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So this topic today we're going to talk about TCP and UDP , that's transmission control protocol and user data grant protocol , which are both on the transport layer of the OSI model , that's layer four , and they have some key differences in terms of their features and their behaviors and are kind of like want to go over some of them .

So first we're going to talk about connection oriented and connection less . The terms connection oriented and connection list refers to two different fundamental communication models used in computer networking , particularly in the context of transport layer protocols like TCP and UDP . So TCP is connection oriented .

So connection oriented communications involves the establishment of a dedicated logical connection between the sender and the receiver before the actual data transfer begins . Right , and the characteristics of these are reliability , which ensures reliable and ordered delivery of data . Acknowledgements . Uses acknowledgement to confirm the receipt of the data .

And then error handling , which performs error checking and retransmission of lost or corrupted packets . Also does flow control , which implements flow control mechanisms to regulate the flow of data .

So , for example , that , as you may or may not know , tcp establishes a three way handshake and once the three way handshake is completed , a virtual circuit is established where it provides a reliable by stream communications .

So an example of this will be applications that guaranteed delivery and order data transfers , such as transferring files when you web browsing and particularly email right when you need to be very , very reliable with email . And then connection list , which is route UDP .

Connection list communication does not involve the prior establishment of a dedicated connection before data transmission . There's no three way handshake and characteristics , no connection setup . Data set without prior setup or acknowledgement , no reliable guarantees .

Does not guarantee the delivery or ordering of packets and low overhead generally has lower overhead due to the lack of can connection setup and the acknowledgement process . And if you look at some literature on TCP , udp , you'll see that the amount of data that is in each one is vastly different .

So an example of this is , again , like I said , udp sends data without establishing a connection does not provide reliability features like acknowledgement or transmission and an example of this is is real time application where low latency is critical , such as streaming media , online gaming and VoIP right , they're just gonna send you the data , send you the data , send

you the data you know . They don't care if you are ready for it or not , they're just gonna just keep sending you the data . Situations where some data loss is acceptable and the emphasis is on speed rather than reliability . That sounds like Netflix , right ? Or YouTube . They just send you the data , send you the data , send you the data . Right .

Sometimes you may be watching a YouTube video and it kind of skips . That's UDP doing that . So let's compare the both the pros and cons . Connection oriented the pro is reliable and ordered data transfer , error checking and correction and then flow control for congestion management . The cons is higher overhead due to connection setup and acknowledgement .

Connection less the pro is lower overhead , faster transmission , suitable for real-time applications , and the con is no reliability guarantees and no error checking or correction . The choice between the connection oriented and connectionless communications depend on the specific requirement of the application .

Connection oriented protocols like TCP are suitable for applications that prioritize reliability , when connectionless protocols like UDP , are appropriate for scenarios with low latency and speed , are more critical than guaranteed of guaranteed delivery . Next we're gonna talk about reliability as far as TCP is concerned . Reliability in TCP connection oriented .

Tcp is connection oriented protocol . Reliable delivery ensures reliable and ordered date delivery of data . Acknowledgment uses acknowledgement to confirm successful with our reception receipt of data retransmission . If the segment is lost or is corrupt , tcp would retransmit it sequence numbers , employee sequence numbers , to order to receive data at the destination .

As error checking , tcp includes error checking mechanism and if errors are detected , the receiver request trans retransmission . Flow control implements full control to prevent overwhelming the receiver with too much data . So an example of this will be file transfer , web , web browsing again , email applications with accurate and order data delivery is crucial .

So you ever downloading something and it says eight hours . You know to download this is four hours and it says 20 minutes . That's part of TCP . That's TCP doing that . Reliability in UDP connectionless UDP is a connectionless protocol .

It's no reliability guarantees right doesn't doesn't guarantee reliable delivery and there's no acknowledgement of data being received ever handling . Udp does not perform error checking or retransmission . Any error detection and correction must be handled by the application layer and it has low overhead because of its connectionless and the lack of reliability .

Udp generally has lower overhead compared to TCP . Again , an example is streaming media , online gaming , when some data loss is acceptable and low latency is more critical than guaranteed delivery . To summarize , this section provides . Tcp provides reliable and order delivery of data suitable for applications with data integrity and order are critical .

And then your higher overhead due to connection setup , acknowledgement and error checking . Udp does not guaranteed Reliability or ordering of data suitable for real-time applications where low latency is more critical than reliability and lower overhead due to is connected list Data loss . I'm sorry , connection was nature .

Next , with going on to the TCP , tcp , udp header size . So TCP header is more extensive compared to UDP , containing several fields necessary for reliable and ordered data . The size of a TCP header the minimum TCP header size is 20 bytes . Additional options , such as maximum segment size , window scale , timestamps , can increase the size of the header .

The maximum size of a TCP header , including options , is 60 bytes . Field . It has source and destination , port numbers , sequence and acknowledgement numbers , header length , flags , windows size for flow control , check , some for error detection , urgent pointer and other options like how variable length .

Udp header size is simpler and more compact than the TCP header Containing the essential information for connection list communication size is you can see , I'm gonna tell you , you can see there's a big difference .

The UDP header is a fixed size of eight bytes Field , source and destination , port numbers , length field indicating the length of the UDP header , and data checks , some for error detection , which is optional , and it can be set to zero for no checks on . So again to compare both TCP larger header size , especially when additional options are included .

More feature rich header to support reliability and connection oriented communication . Udp smaller , fixed header a minimal information suitable for connection and low overhead communications .

Next we're gonna talk about flow control in TCP . Udp Flow controls a mechanism used to manage the rate of data transmission between a sender and a receiver . It ensures that the sender does not overwhelm the receiver with data , preventing potential packet loss and ensuring smooth communications .

So for TCP and TCP , flow control is implemented using a sliding window mechanism . The receiver advertises available buffer size to the sender using the window size field in the TCP header . The sender then adjusts transmission rate based on the advertised window size to avoid overlawing the receiver . What's the purpose of this ?

It prevents the sender from transmitting data at a faster rate than the receiver can process . Congestion control is a mechanism used to prevent network congestion , which occurs when a demand for network resources exceeds the available capacity . It aims to avoid packet loss and ensure fair sharing of network resources among competing users . So TCP congestion control .

Tcp uses various algorithms to detect and respond to congestion , such as slow start , congestion avoidance and fast retransmit , fast recovery algorithms . These algorithms adjust the sending rate dynamically based on network conditions , reducing congestion and preventing network collapse .

The purpose of all this is to avoid network congestion by adjusting the transmission rate based on perceived network connections . This is why you see it when you first start downloading something , it's had a different speed when you end it . Comparison primary scope is primarily concerned with communication between a specific sender and receiver .

Implementation involves adjusting the rate of data transmission based on the receiver's buffer space , and the goal is to ensure effective and reliable communication between individual senders and receivers . The control is the scope concerns the entire network and multiple communicating entities .

Implementation involves the adjusting the transmission rate based on network conditions to prevent congestions , and the goal is to maintain overall network stability with fairness , preventing congestions related issues . Tcp incorporates both flow control and congestion control mechanism .

Flow control is essential for managing the rate between individual sender , receiver parts providers . Congestion controls help prevent network wide congestions and ensure fair utilization . Flow control use case for file transfers .

When large files are transferred between a sender and the receiver , flow control ensures that the sender does not overwhelm the receiver's buffer , preventing potential loss when you are web browsing and web communication . Flow control helps manage the rate of data transfer between a web server and a client , ensuring loading of web pages without overloading the client .

Email communications flow control is important in email communications to prevent the sender from transmitting emails faster than the email client can process and display them , and in streaming media and streaming applications , such as video streaming or online music service .

Flow control helps regulate the delivery of data to ensure a seedless and uninterrupted user experience . Congestion control some examples of that internet traffic management .

In the broader contents of the internet , congestion control mechanism prevent network congestions by adjusting the transmission rate of multiple connections , ensuring fair share are available bandwidth Data center communications within data centers . When numerous servers and devices communicate , congestion control is vital to prevent bottlenecks and ensure efficient data transfer .

Voip voice over internet protocol in real time communication applications like VoIP , congestion control helps maintain low latency and prevents voIP quality the degradation by avoiding a network congestion .

Online gaming online gaming application use congestion congestion congestion congestion control to ensure a smooth gaming experience by preventing lags and delays caused by network congestion and cloud computing and a cloud computing environment with multiple users and applications share resources .

Congestion control prevents performance issues and ensure fair resource allocation In scenarios where reliability and order data delivery are essential , for example , file transfer , web browsing , email . Tcp flow control ensures that data is transmitted at a manageable rate .

Tcp TCP's congestion control helps maintain network stability and fairness in diverse and network and dynamic network environments . We have the well known ports that are used in TCP , udp . As we know , ports are standardized port numbers assigned to specific service by the internet assigned numbers authority .

These ports are commonly used for well known services , making them easier for network administrators and users to identify and manage different network traffic . Here are some examples of some well known corresponding ports and their services .

Well , first one we gonna talk about , we're gonna mention , is port 2021 , which you should know it before I answer it , before I say right , ports 2021 is what ? Ftp , file transfer protocol ? And now , is that UDP or TCP ? Guys , what do you think it is TCP . It is TCP . Next , port 22 . And port 22 is what ? Ftp , file transfer protocol .

Thank you , what is it ? What is it ? That is correct ? It is secure a shell . And now , is that TCP or UDP ? What do you think , guys ? It is TCP . Next we have port number 23 . What's port number 23 , guys ? All of these are ? You know , the ones are gonna be an 8 plus , that were plus a security plus , so know them .

Port number 23 is telnet and that is TCP . Next is port number 25 . Anybody can tell me what port 25 is ? Those in the back , what do you think ? It is SMTP and it is TCP . Next is port number of 53 . And is that ? What is 53 for number 53 ? What is that ? That is domain name service . And now , what protocols they use ? This one actually uses both .

This one actually uses both TCP and UDP , and then one day we'll talk about DNS and then , well we'll , we'll get it into a little bit of a deep diver on that . Next we have port 80 . Everybody should know this one , right ? This is the easiest one . This should be like the first one that you learned . And it is Http , right , hypertext transfer protocol .

Now , is that UDP or TCP . What do you think it is ? Tcp ? Port number 110 . Port number 110 what do you think that is , guys ? What do you think that is From ? Give you the answer , take a guess . Port number 110 is pop 3 post office protocol , and that protocol uses TCP . Next , port number 143 143 guys , what's 143 ?

143 is HTTPS , right , http , secure , and that uses TCP . Port number 161 and 162 which what protocol is that ? Anybody know ? This one is a little harder . It is SNMP , simple network management protocol , and that uses UDP . Next is port number 389 389 guys . What port number is 389 ? Anybody know ?

Goes in the back , yell it out oh , port number 389 is LDAP , lightweight directory access protocol , and that uses TCP . Then we have port 514 , port 514 this is a tough one . Port 514 Anybody know what that one is for ? 514 ? That is Cislog , right , protocols are UDP and TCP . Next we have port number 636 . Anybody know what that is 636 ?

No , it's LDAP S , ldap over SSL . And then again , that also uses TCP . And the last one is port number at 993 993 . Guys , you guys know what that is . 993 993 is IMAP over SSL , and that also uses TCP .

These well-known ports facilitate the standardization of network services Allowing devices and applications to communicate with each other using established port assignments . While these ports are associated with specific services , it is important to note that applications can sometimes use non-standard ports or dynamically assigned ports for communication .

All right , we got some more ports . Port 67 this one you should definitely know port , especially if you took my class right . Port number 67 what is that ? It is DHCP , dynamic host configuration protocol . I and is that TCP or UDP ? Yeah , that's UDP , you would think is TCP . No , but it's , it's UDP . So I'm yeah , I'm sure some of you are shocked .

Port number 69 . Port number 69 anybody out there know what port number 69 is ? No , port number 69 is transfer files , I'm sorry , trivia file transfer protocol . It uses UDP also . Next , this is the easiest port number that you could remember in your life .

If you ever get this wrong on the test , shame on you , because this is the easiest port number to remember . Port one , two , three . What's the ? What's the name ? What's the service ? What's the name of port number one , two , three . That's an easy one . That's like a gimme , guys . If you don't know that one , you know you need to go back to your notes .

That's network time protocol , network time protocol and it's easy to remember , right , because it's time . We know one , two , three time , right , very easy to remember . Then we have the last one is port number 514 , which we , which is syslog , and that's also . That's both UDP and TCP , along with SNMP . That's also both .

So please know why these ports are commonly associated with specific services using using UDP . Some applications may use non-standard ports or dynamically assigned ports for UDP communication . Additionally , some services , such as DNS , uses both when UDP typically being used for lightweight queries and responses .

So , alright , so hopefully that was a good , that was a good topic , right , udp , tcp not a lot of people know that and it's a very , very , very important part of IT and it's , you know , it's part of the OSI model , it's layer four of the lowest of the OSI model , has to do with the , the transport layer , and it .

It has in its packet the port number that it's assigned to it . So it's , it's a very important the Topic that that we need to understand in in in IT and you know computers and CompTIA and a plus , not it . Now , I doubt very much you're gonna talk about that at work , about TCP and UDP , but you may need as you go along in your career Right now .

You're gonna have to go through the process of going along in your career , right , because you know there's this TCP Flooding right that they do . So you may know you may need to know about TCP , right . This is not the most glamorous topic and you might say , wow , this is .

You know this is a little bit on the boring side and it is , but you know they're , they will attack , right , they would do that attack where with the three-way handshake doesn't get completed , only the two-way .

It only stops at the second handshake and it just , and then it just keeps doing it and then the third handshake never completes and then your system is it's done after a while once . They do it a bunch of times .

So it's an important aspect of All by T , though it may not be , you know , anybody's favorite thing , or it might be a little bit boring , or even after listening to these podcast , you may still not understand what it does , what it means .

But this is just a , you know , just to tip your toe , toe in the water kind of thing and and see if , if you can at least start to familiarize yourself with TCP UDP , because it's , you know , it's very important . The example that I like to give in class , if anybody ever taken any of my classes is .

I like to have one student Stand at one end of the classroom and I'm on the other end and I have a bunch of markers in my hand and then I start tossing them to the student on the other side . But I first I say hey , are you ready ? And then they say yes . And then I toss them the first one and they say hey , are you ready ?

And they say yes , and I toss them the second one . They say hey , are you ready ? They say yes , and I toss them and I continue tossing them . Then I grab the markers back we still in the same position and then I start tossing the markers at the person .

If he drops it , I don't care , I'm not waiting for him to pick it up to throw the other marker , I'm just gonna throw the . I do it underhand , of course , right not to get hurt . And then I just keep throwing the markers and after a while he stops Catching them right . That's how TCP and UEP works .

That's how that's the example that I like to show my students like a visual example . May not be the best example , but it's a fun example and it gets a lot of laughs in the classroom , so I'll take it . I'll take it if it's gonna make my students laugh , I'm all there for it . All right , that's gonna put a bow on this episode .

Thank you for listening and remember to follow me on tiktok . I'm on tiktok . Just search for professor J rod JROD and you would find me . Take a look at some of the videos that I put up there . Hit the like button , please , and follow me . I'm trying to get enough followers for I can do a live stream and we can do a whole bunch of questions live .

Appreciate it and until next time . This is this has been a little touch of productions Art by Sarah music by joking . If you want to reach me , you can email me , professor J rod . That's Uh J R O D I gmailcom . I'm also an Instagram at professor J rod and I'm on tiktok . Search for me , professor J rod .