Dell PowerConnect 7048P User Manual - Page 704

discarded, depending on the switch configuration. If a match is found, then the packet is forwarded only to the ports that are members of that multicast group. You can create multicast bridging groups and specify the ports and LAGs that are members of each group. This allows L2 multicast traffic to be confined to the specified group. You can configure the forwarding mode for each VLAN as one of the following: • Forward Unregistered-Permits control multicast frames to be forwarded. This means that multicast streams that have no registrants (no hosts have joined the multicast group) will be flooded. • Filter Unregistered-Prohibits the forwarding of control multicast frames such as router advertisements, RIP, and OSPF. • Forward All-Permits registered and unregistered multicast packets to forward. What Is IP Multicast Traffic? IP multicast traffic is traffic that is destined to a host group. Host groups are identified by class D IP addresses, which range from 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. When a packet with a broadcast or multicast destination IP address is received, the switch will forward a copy into each of the remaining network segments in accordance with the IEEE MAC Bridge standard. Eventually, the packet is made accessible to all nodes connected to the network. This approach works well for broadcast packets that are intended to be seen or processed by all connected nodes. In the case of multicast packets, however, this approach could lead to less efficient use of network bandwidth, particularly when the packet is intended for only a small number of nodes. Packets will be flooded into network segments where no node has any interest in receiving the packet. 704 Configuring L2 Multicast Features