Can you explain what the QUIC protocol is and how it works?

QUIC is a transport protocol developed by Google that operates over UDP and is designed to accelerate and enhance the security of internet connections.

Main features of QUIC:

• Uses UDP instead of TCP, which helps avoid delays associated with establishing a TCP connection.
• Built-in support for encryption (TLS 1.3), ensuring security at the transport level.
• Multiplexing of streams without blocking (head-of-line blocking), improving performance when transmitting multiple data streams.
• Fast recovery from packet loss and improved congestion control.

QUIC is often used to speed up HTTPS connections, for example in HTTP/3.

Example: When loading a web page via HTTP/3 using QUIC, the browser establishes a secure connection faster than with traditional TCP+TLS, reducing load times.