Datagram Networks
- It is a connection-less service. There is no need for reservation of resources as there is no dedicated path for a connection session.
- All packets are free to use any available path. As a result, intermediate routers calculate routes on the go due to dynamically changing routing tables on routers.
- Since every packet is free to choose any path, all packets must be associated with a header with proper information about the source and the upper layer data.
- The connection-less property makes data packets reach the destination in any order, which means that they can potentially be received out of order at the receiver’s end.
- Datagram networks are not as reliable as Virtual Circuits.
- The major drawback of Datagram Packet switching is that a packet can only be forwarded if resources such as the buffer, CPU, and bandwidth are available. Otherwise, the packet will be discarded.
- But it is always easy and cost-efficient to implement datagram networks as there is no extra headache of reserving resources and making a dedicated each time an application has to communicate.
- It is generally used by the IP network, which is used for Data services like the Internet.
Benefits of Datagram Networks
- The flexibility of datagram networks is one of its main benefits.
- They are better at managing network congestion. Datagram networks are able to adjust to variations in network traffic and identify several paths for packets to take in order to reach their intended destination because every packet is handled separately.
- In big and complicated networks in particular, this can lead to decreased latency and increased network performance.
- In addition, datagram networks scale more easily than other kinds of networks. Datagram networks are the ideal option for contemporary communication systems, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and real-time data streaming applications, due to their scalability.
Drawbacks of Datagram Networks
- The lack of assured delivery in datagram networks is one of their primary disadvantages. There is no assurance that all packets will arrive at their destination or in the right order because they are sent separately.
- Datagram networks also have the drawback of being vulnerable to security breaches. Datagram networks are particularly susceptible to network assaults including spoofing, eavesdropping, and denial of service (DoS) attacks since they don’t create a dedicated connection between the sender and the recipient.
- Moreover, datagram networks may not always support guarantees of quality of service (QoS). While certain applications may benefit from QoS capabilities provided by some protocols, like the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP), datagram networks as a whole do not provide a centralised method for allocating priorities and controlling network traffic.
Differences Between Virtual Circuits and Datagram Networks
Computer networks that provide connection-oriented services are called Virtual Circuits while those providing connection-less services are called Datagram networks. For prior knowledge, the Internet that we use is based on a Datagram network (connection-less) at the network level as all packets from a source to a destination do not follow the same path.