Transport layer protocols

Routing & Switching
1

hi Team
who and how Transport layer protocols are selected for particular application while sending packets?

2

Hello Kanu

That’s an excellent question. When designers of particular software and operating systems design their network applications, they choose the protocols that best serve their types of data.

Typically, you want to use TCP when the accuracy of information is important because it includes mechanisms for error correction and flow control. So if packets get lost or corrupted, TCP will ask to have those packets resent. So, for things like email, web browsing, bank transactions, file transfer, database transactions, IM, cloud services are just some of the applications that should be designed to use TCP.

Applications that require a steady flow of data, low latency, and efficient transmission but are not as concerned about transport layer error corrections and flow control will typically use UDP because of its low overhead. Real-time media applications such as video conferencing, video streaming, voice over IP (VoIP), and online gaming are some such applications. Some network protocols also use UDP, such as DNS, DHCP, NTP, TFTP, and SNMP to name a few. If for whatever reason such a communication fails, the application itself simply resends the request. So error control is taken care of at higher layers of the OSI model rather than at the transport layer.

There are other transport layer protocols that can also be used depending on the need and requirements of the application in question. These include:

  • Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) used in telecom signaling such as SS7 over IP and VoIP.
  • Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) which is like UDP but adds some congestion control, making it ideal for multimedia applications like streaming or interactive gaming.
  • Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) which actually runs on top of UDP or TCP, and is used primarily for real time audio and video and other time sensitive data over IP networks.

So to sum up, the transport layer protocol is chosen by the designers of the application in question based on the requirements of the type of traffic that is used.

I hope this has been helpful!

Laz

3

Thanks Lagapidis for your valuable reply.

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