Question

Difficulty: MediumTCP vs UDP Comparison and Protocols

A network administrator is evaluating Layer 4 protocol mechanisms for application deployment across an enterprise network. Which of the following features are characteristics unique to TCP when compared to UDP? (Select TWO.)

  1. Explicit connection setup using a three-way handshake sequence before transmitting dataAnswer
  2. Flow control managed dynamically through receiver window size adjustmentsAnswer
  3. C
    Stateless transmission utilizing a fixed 8-byte header overhead for fast transport
  4. D
    Native transmission support for IP broadcast and multicast traffic destinations

Answer

TCP uniquely provides stateful session establishment via a three-way handshake and flow control through dynamic sliding window adjustments, whereas UDP is stateless, connectionless, and lacks windowing flow control.
TCP is a connection-oriented protocol that establishes a stateful connection via a three-way handshake prior to data exchange and employs dynamic window size adjustments for flow control to match receiver processing capacity.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze transport protocol connection management mechanisms.
TCP requires a three-way handshake (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK) to establish a connection state between endpoints before payload exchange, whereas UDP is connectionless and sends datagrams without prior signaling.
Establishing connection state is essential for TCP reliability.
2
Analyze transport protocol traffic regulation capabilities.
TCP implements flow control using dynamic window size fields in its header to prevent sender buffer overrun at the receiver. UDP contains no window field or flow control mechanism.
Windowing allows TCP to adapt transmission rates to receiver processing limits.
3
Evaluate distractor properties against protocol specifications.
An 8-byte header and stateless delivery belong to UDP (TCP headers are at least 20 bytes). Multicast/broadcast support is exclusive to connectionless transport (UDP), as TCP is limited to unicast traffic.
Distractors represent characteristics inherent to UDP rather than TCP.

Key Concept

TCP vs UDP Operational Differences and Mechanisms
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