Internet multicasting is an IP-based networking technique used to broadcast various media types from a single source to multiple end-points. In recent years, Internet multicasting has exploded in popularity. Multicasting has become a key tool for an architect as this technology supports:
- Video streaming
- Radio simulation
- Webcasts
- IP Multicast Initiative:
The IP Multicast Initiative ipmulticast.com was a consortium of multicast vendors, large consumers, network providers, and standards bodies.
The Initiative offered a variety of information services, memberships, and sponsorships. The IP Multicast Initiative excels as an on-going educational source on Multicasting.
IP Multicast will be that protocol that adds security, reliability, quality of service, multicast signal tracing, usage accounting and dynamic tunneling to overcome lack of support. This protocol will act like a Swiss army knife for inter-domain IP Multicast, providing all of the missing elements from the current Multicast model. IP Multicasting: A multicast sends information to many recipients at once, as opposed to a unicast, which is a transmission directed to a single recipient. Multicasting can be used to videocast media such as news bulletins, stock quotes, weather reports, and conferences.
Multicasting does not consume bandwidth like classic internetworking, which really is a peer-to-peer (many-to-many) form of networking. Multicasting supports a one-to-many, unidirectional paradigm over the Internet (or VPNs of Internet technology, such as Extranets and Intranets). Despite advances in bandwidth production due to
ADSL[1], cable modems,
ATM[2], and
Gigabit Ethernet[3], many believe that without multicasting, bandwidth production will not keep up with bandwidth demand (that is, without multicasting, the Internet could be really slow).
Consider ways multicasting can be used
Multicasting introduces entirely new concepts into the Internet experience. Multicast challenges the architect to bring richer, unidirectional application delivery to e-Commerce through:
- Streaming video/audio
- One-way presentations, such as auditorium simulations
- Web radio
- Webcasts
Internet Multicasting Vendors
It has been posited that eventually multicasting will draw together television and the Web. If you think about it, TV is based on multicasting as well. The architect should look for opportunities to take advantage of multicasting in e-Commerce solutions.
[2]
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM): A network technology that transfers data at very high speeds in cells or packets of a fixed size. This enables ATM equipment to transmit video, audio, and computer data over the same network, assuring that a single type of data does not hog the line.