datagram integrity service

A data integrity service that preserves the integrity of data in a single, independent, packet; i.e., the service applies to datagrams one-at-a-time. (See: data integrity. Compare: stream integrity service.)

Tutorial: The ability to provide appropriate data integrity is important in many Internet security situations, and so there are different kinds of data integrity services suited to different applications. This service is the simplest kind; it is suitable for connectionless data transfers.

Datagram integrity service usually is designed only to attempt to detect changes to the SDU in each packet, but it might also attempt to detect changes to some or all of the PCI in each packet (see: selective field integrity). In contrast to this simple, one-at-a-time service, some security situations demand a more complex service that also attempts to detect deleted, inserted, or reordered datagrams within a stream of datagrams (see: stream integrity service).