What does UDP stand for?

UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol. It is a communication protocol used across the Internet Protocol (IP) networks. UDP is part of the transport layer of the Internet protocol suite and offers a connectionless service for sending messages, known as datagrams, to other hosts on a network.

What sets UDP apart is its simplicity and low overhead, which allows for faster data transmission compared to other protocols like TCP (Transmission Control Protocol). Unlike TCP, UDP does not guarantee the delivery of datagrams, nor does it ensure the order in which they are received, making it suitable for applications where speed is crucial and occasional data loss is acceptable, such as streaming audio and video, online gaming, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

The other choices, while they include some similar wording, do not represent the correct terminology that is widely recognized in networking contexts, thereby highlighting the importance of using the proper definition when studying protocols.