unicast

{{Short description|Sending a message to one computer; on a one-to-one basis}}

image:unicast.svg

{{routing scheme}}

In computer networking, unicast is a one-to-one transmission from one point in the network to another point; that is, one sender and one receiver, each identified by a network address.{{cite web|author=Godred Fairhurst|title=Unicast, Broadcast, and Multicast|url=https://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/course/intro-pages/uni-b-mcast.html|access-date=2021-11-23|archive-date=2021-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123123211/https://www.erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/course/intro-pages/uni-b-mcast.html|url-status=dead}}{{sps|date=November 2021}}

Unicast is in contrast to multicast and broadcast which are one-to-many transmissions.{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291786|title=Differences Between Multicast and Unicast|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203132015/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291786|archive-date=2008-02-03|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-02-04}}

Internet Protocol unicast delivery methods such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) are typically used.