Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series, Software Configuration Manual

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Catalyst 4500 Series Switch, Cisco IOS Software Configuration Guide - Cisco IOS XE 3.9.xE and IOS 15.2(5)Ex
Chapter 63 Support for IPv6
About IPv6
Multicast
Traditional IP communication allows a host to send packets to a single host (unicast transmission) or to
all hosts (broadcast transmission). IPv6 multicast, allows a host to send a single data stream to a subset
of all hosts (group transmission) simultaneously.
The following multicast features are supported for IPv6 on the Catalyst 4500 series switch:
• Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) protocol, versions 1 and 2
You can find information about IPv6 MLD Snooping at this location:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst4500/12.2/53SG/configuration/mldsnoop.h
tml
•
PIM Sparse Mode (PIM-SM)
• PIM Source Specific Multicast (PIM-SSM)
•
Scope boundaries
• MLD access group
•
PIM embedded Rendezvous Point (RP) support
• Static multicast routing (mroute)
•
Explicit tracking of receivers
• Bootstrap routers (BSR)
•
MLD snooping
You can find information about these features at this location:
IP Multicast: PIM Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15E
IP Multicast Configuration Guide Library, Cisco IOS XE Release 3E
Static Routes
Networking devices forward packets using route information that is either manually configured or
dynamically learned using a routing protocol. Static routes are manually configured and define an
explicit path between two networking devices. Unlike a dynamic routing protocol, static routes are not
automatically updated and must be manually reconfigured if the network topology changes. The benefits
of using static routes include security and resource efficiency. Static routes use less bandwidth than
dynamic routing protocols and no CPU cycles are used to calculate and communicate routes. The main
disadvantage to using static routes is the lack of automatic reconfiguration if the network topology
changes.
Static routes can be redistributed into dynamic routing protocols but routes generated by dynamic
routing protocols cannot be redistributed into the static routing table. No algorithm exists to prevent the
configuration of routing loops that use static routes.
Static routes are useful for smaller networks with only one path to an outside network and to provide
security for a larger network for certain types of traffic or links to other networks that need more control.
In general, most networks use dynamic routing protocols to communicate between networking devices
but may have one or two static routes configured for special cases.
You can find more information regarding static routes at:
IP Routing: Protocol-Independent Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15E
IP Routing: Protocol-Independent Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE Release 3E