UDP ( User Datagram Protocol ) is one of the most popular transport protocols. In comparison to TCP it is much faster, however less reliable.
The special features of this protocol:
- it does not make sure all packets are in proper order and delivered
- UDP is not establishing connection before starting or receiving the transmission.
The common application of UDP/IP is audio/video streaming – in this case the need of keeping the transmission real-time outweighs the potential risks of packets loss.