DNS and some other Services work on both the TCP and UDP Protocols. Two protocols are different from each other. TCP is a connection-oriented protocol whereas UDP is a connection-less protocol. TCP requires the data to be consistent at the destination and UDP does not require the data to be consistent or does not need to establish the connection with the host for data accuracy.
DNS uses TCP for Zone Transfer over Port: 53
It is necessary to maintain a consistent DNS database between DNS Servers. This is achieved by the TCP protocol. This communication happens between DNS Servers only. The Zone Transfer feature of DNS Server will always use TCP protocol. The connection is established between the DNS Server to transfer the zone data and Source and Destination DNS Servers will make sure that data is consistent by using TCP ACK bit.
DNS uses UDP for DNS Queries over Port: 53
A client computer will always send a DNS Query using UDP Protocol over Port 53. If a client computer does not get response from a DNS Server, it must re-transmit the DNS Query using the TCP after 3-5 seconds of interval.
