Connectionless Protocol
NAS Recovery - Connectionless Protocol
A connectionless protocol refers to a method of communication between two network end points without the need of a logical connection between them. In this protocol, the device at one end transmits data to a destination address without ensuring that the receiver at the other end is ready or available to receive the data.
Connectionless protocols are often known as ‘stateless’ because the endpoints do not have protocol-defined way to remember where they are in a ‘conversation’ of message exchanges. On the other hand, connection-oriented protocols are able to keep track of a conversation, so they are known as ‘stateful.’
Popular examples of connectionless protocols are Internet Protocol (IP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). However, the Internet Suite Protocol (TCP/IP) is connection oriented.
Drawbacks of Connectionless Protocols
Since connectionless protocol does not establish connection between the devices, such transmission is likely to create more problems, especially if multiple paths exist between the sender and the recipient. As a result, the network may fail to deliver the data in the correct sequence. In other instances, it may be required to re-send the data multiple times.
Connectionless protocols are prone to malicious attacks. This is because of the difficulty involved in filtering malicious packets from a connectionless protocol using a firewall.
Other examples of connectionless protocol include: Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Internet Packet Exchange (IPX), Transparent Inter-process Communication (TIPC) and Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBEUI).
