multicasting

[carl_townshend]

this is where 1 stream is sent and multiple people listen ? am i right, are routers etc all setup by default to allow this ? what else is multicast used for ?

thanks

[c.lemaire]

Multicasting is wel used to send one or several streams to a group of devices interested in these streams without duplicating the packets when it is not necessary. The router does not route multicast by default, you need to enable it.

Check this doc for more information about multicast : http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps6552/c1161/cdccont_0900aecd80310883.pdf

Please rate if this helps.

Regards,

Christophe

[carl_townshend]

Do many people use multicast, are all the routers that route the internet multicast ?

[andrew.burns]

Hi,

Most Internet multicast usage up to now has been largely academic (and large corporate) - however, with the advent of Internet TV/radio it's slowly taking off for the general public, for example, in the UK the BBC have been trialing multicast with some ISP's.

Have a look at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/multicast/

So, to answer your question, some people are using it but not all Internet routers currently support it.

HTH - plz rate if it does.

Andrew.

[c.lemaire]

Some ISP are multicast enabled. If you want to check if your ISP is multicast enabled, you can use this web page : http://www.multicasttech.com/mt/

However, if your are on an enterprise network, multicast must be enabled on it too.

Please rate all posts.

Christophe