This document discusses unicasting and multicasting in computer networks. It provides details on:
- The key differences between unicasting (one-to-one communication) and multicasting (one-to-many communication), including how routers handle forwarding for each.
- Common applications that use multicasting like audio/video distribution, file sharing, and conferencing.
- Approaches to multicast routing including source-based trees, group-shared trees, and protocols like PIM, CBT, and MBONE tunneling to connect isolated multicast networks.
- Mechanisms used in multicast routing protocols like RPF, pruning/grafting, and IGMP to discover multicast group members