Cisco IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview: Comprehensive Guide to Efficient Network Communication (EN)

About IP Multicast

IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview Information About IP Multicast Technology, on page 1 Additional References for IP Multicast, on page 16 Feature History for IP Multicast Routing Technology, on page 19 Information About IP Multicast Technology This section provides information about IP multicast technology. About IP Multicast At one end of the IP communication spectrum is IP unicast, where a source IP host sends packets to a specific destination IP host. In IP unicast, the destination address in the IP packet is the address of a single, unique host in the IP network. These IP packets are forwarded across the network from the source to the destination host by devices.

At each point on the path between source and destination, a device uses a unicast routing table to make unicast forwarding decisions, based on the IP destination address in the packet. At the other end of the IP communication spectrum is an IP broadcast, where a source host sends packets to all hosts on a network segment. The destination address of an IP broadcast packet has the host portion of the destination IP address set to all ones and the network portion set to the address of the subnet. IP hosts, including devices, understand that packets, which contain an IP broadcast address as the destination address, are addressed to all IP hosts on the subnet.

Unless specifically configured otherwise, devices do not forward IP broadcast packets, so IP broadcast communication is normally limited to a local subnet. IP multicasting falls between IP unicast and IP broadcast communication. IP multicast communication enables a host to send IP packets to a group of hosts anywhere within the IP network. To send information to a specific group, IP multicast communication uses a special form of IP destination address called an IP multicast group address. The IP multicast group address is specified in the IP destination address field of the packet.

To multicast IP information, Layer 3 switches and devices must forward an incoming IP packet to all output interfaces that lead to members of the IP multicast group. We tend to think of IP multicasting and video conferencing as the same thing. Although the first application in a network to use IP multicast is often video conferencing, video is only one of many IP multicast applications that can add value to a company’s business model. Other IP multicast applications that have potential for improving productivity include multimedia conferencing, data replication, real-time data multicasts, and simulation applications. IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview 1

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Multicast Group Transmission Scheme

Role of IP Multicast in Information Delivery IP multicast is a bandwidth-conserving technology that reduces traffic by delivering a single stream of information simultaneously to potentially thousands of businesses and homes. Applications that take advantage of multicast include video conferencing, corporate communications, distance learning, and distribution of software, stock quotes, and news. IP multicast routing enables a host (source) to send packets to a group of hosts (receivers) anywhere within the IP network by using a special form of IP address called the IP multicast group address.

The sending host inserts the multicast group address into the IP destination address field of the packet and IP multicast routers and multilayer switches forward incoming IP multicast packets out all interfaces that lead to the members of the multicast group. Any host, regardless of whether it is a member of a group, can send to a group. However, only the members of a group receive the message. Controlling the transmission rate to a multicast group is not supported. Multicast Group Transmission Scheme IP communication consists of hosts that act as senders and receivers of traffic as shown in the first figure. Senders are called sources.

Traditional IP communication is accomplished by a single host source sending packets to another single host (unicast transmission) or to all hosts (broadcast transmission). IP multicast provides a third scheme, allowing a host to send packets to a subset of all hosts (multicast transmission). This subset of receiving hosts is called a multicast group. The hosts that belong to a multicast group are called group members. Multicast is based on this group concept. A multicast group is an arbitrary number of receivers that join a group in order to receive a particular data stream.

This multicast group has no physical or geographical boundaries--the hosts can be located anywhere on the Internet or on any private internetwork. Hosts that are interested in receiving data from a source to a particular group must join that group. Joining a group is accomplished by a host receiver by way of the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP). In a multicast environment, any host, regardless of whether it is a member of a group, can send to a group. However, only the members of a group can receive packets sent to that group. Multicast packets are delivered to a group using best-effort reliability, just like IP unicast packets.

IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview Role of IP Multicast in Information Delivery IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview 2

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Multicast Group Transmission Scheme

In the next figure, the receivers (the designated multicast group) are interested in receiving the video data stream from the source. The receivers indicate their interest by sending an IGMP host report to the routers in the network. The routers are then responsible for delivering the data from the source to the receivers. The routers use Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) to dynamically create a multicast distribution tree. The video data stream will then be delivered only to the network segments that are in the path between the source and the receivers. IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview Multicast Group Transmission Scheme IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview 3

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IP Multicast Routing Protocols

IP Multicast Routing Protocols The software supports the following protocols to implement IP multicast routing: • IGMP is used between hosts on a LAN and the routers (and multilayer devices) on that LAN to track the multicast groups of which hosts are members. To participate in IP multicasting, multicast hosts, routers, and multilayer devices must have the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) operating. • Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) is used between routers so that they can track which multicast packets to forward to each other and to their directly connected LANs. • IGMP Snooping is used for multicasting in a Layer 2 switching environment.

It helps reduce the flooding of multicast traffic by dynamically configuring Layer 2 interfaces so that multicast traffic is forwarded to only those interfaces associated with IP multicast devices. This figure shows where these protocols operate within the IP multicast environment. Figure 1: IP Multicast Routing Protocols According to IPv4 multicast standards, the MAC destination multicast address begins with 0100:5e and is appended by the last 23 bits of the IP address. For example, if the IP destination address is 239.1.1.39, the MAC destination address is 0100:5e01:0127. IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview IP Multicast Routing Protocols IP Multicast Routing Technology Overview 4

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