SCTP vs. TCP

What is a Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)?

Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is an IP Transport Layer protocol.  SCTP performs transport layer duties for many Internet applications on par with User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). SCTP is a reliable transport protocol operating on top of a connectionless packet network such as IP. It supports data transfer across the network in single-IP or multi-IP cases.

Through M3UA, M2UA, or SUA, SCTP can send and receive signaling messages for 3G mobile networks to and from Signaling System 7 (SS7). SCTP is a packed-based transport protocol.  SCTP offers both sequence and no-sequence transmission, reduced end-to-end delay, quick failover times in the event of network outages, and dependable and secure transport.

What is TCP?

Transmission Control Protocol, or TCP, is a communications standard that enables computer hardware and software to exchange messages over a network. It is made to send packets across the internet and ensure that data and messages are properly sent through networks. It provides end-to-end data delivery and is one of the most widely used protocols in digital network communications.

Data is organized by TCP before being sent between a server and a client. It ensures the integrity of the information transmitted via a network. TCP creates a connection between a source and destination before transmitting data and ensures that the connection is active until data transmission starts. Then, it divides enormous volumes of data into smaller packets while preserving data integrity.

Since TCP is the protocol used most commonly on top of IP, the Internet protocol stack is sometimes referred to as TCP/IP.

Why Are TCP More Popular Than SCTP?

There are several reasons for this. For starters, ​​the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) is newer and lesser-known than TCP.

Additionally, due to the IP suite's adherence to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) architecture, host-to-host communication is supported by a transport layer. On this layer, SCTP can be used to send and receive messages. SCTP is used fairly infrequently because TCP is a much more widely used and supported protocol.

Finally, on many operating systems, SCTP's inclusion in the IP Suite has not been completely supported or implemented. The lack of inclusion in any of the major operating systems, such as Windows and macOS, has led to this protocol's relative obscurity and lack of popularity, despite the fact that its designers intended to address many of the problems that affected other Transport Layer protocols.

In addition to having a steep learning curve and being challenging to install, SCTP is inadequate for most modern applications' data transfer requirements.

In the end, all of this has resulted in virtually no adoption of SCTP by operating systems or applications.