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Difficulty: EasyTCP vs UDP Comparison and Protocols

A network technician is reviewing transport layer protocol characteristics to evaluate protocol overhead. Which statement correctly describes the header size of UDP compared to TCP?

  1. UDP operates with a fixed header size of 8 bytes, whereas TCP has a minimum header size of 20 bytes.Answer
  2. B
    UDP operates with a fixed header size of 20 bytes, whereas TCP has a minimum header size of 8 bytes.
  3. C
    UDP operates with a dynamic header size starting at 16 bytes, whereas TCP uses a fixed header size of 32 bytes.
  4. D
    UDP and TCP both operate with a fixed header size of 12 bytes.

Answer

UDP operates with a fixed header size of 8 bytes, whereas TCP has a minimum header size of 20 bytes.
UDP headers consist of four 2-byte fields (Source Port, Destination Port, Length, Checksum), resulting in a fixed size of 8 bytes. In contrast, TCP headers require a minimum of 20 bytes (up to 60 bytes with options) to accommodate fields such as Sequence Number, Acknowledgment Number, Data Offset, Flags, Window Size, and Urgent Pointer required for reliable, connection-oriented data transfer.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze UDP header structure
UDP contains 4 fields (Source Port, Destination Port, Length, Checksum) at 2 bytes each, totaling 8 bytes.
UDP provides connectionless delivery with minimal protocol overhead.
2
Analyze TCP header structure
TCP header includes sequence numbers, acknowledgment numbers, flags, window size, and checksum, requiring a minimum of 20 bytes without options.
TCP requires additional fields to guarantee stateful, reliable connection delivery.
3
Compare header overhead
UDP uses an 8-byte header and TCP uses a minimum 20-byte header.
Direct comparison identifies UDP as having lower protocol overhead than TCP.

Key Concept

TCP vs UDP Header Size Comparison
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Topics

TCP vs UDP Comparison and Protocols

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