Operation Manual – Multicast Protocol
H3C S3610&S5510 Series Ethernet Switches
Chapter 1 Multicast Overview
1-2
Figure 1-1
Unicast transmission
Assume that Hosts B, D and E need this information. The information source
establishes a separate transmission channel for each of these hosts.
In unicast transmission, the traffic over the network is proportional to the number of
hosts that need the information. If a large number of users need the information, the
information source needs to send a copy of the same information to each of these users.
This means a tremendous pressure on the information source and the network
bandwidth.
As we can see from the information transmission process, unicast is not suitable for
batch transmission of information.
II. Broadcast
In broadcast, the information source sends information to all hosts on the network, even
if some hosts do not need the information, as shown in
.
