Dell PowerConnect 8100 User's Configuration Guide - Page 695

26 Configuring L2 Multicast Features This chapter describes the layer 2 multicast features on the PowerConnect 8000/8100-series switches. The features this chapter describes include bridge multicast filtering, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping, Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) snooping, and Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR). The topics covered in this chapter include: • L2 Multicast Overview • Snooping Switch Restrictions • Default L2 Multicast Values • Configuring L2 Multicast Features (Web) • Configuring L2 Multicast Features (CLI) • Case Study on a Real-World Network Topology L2 Multicast Overview Multicast traffic is traffic from one source that has multiple destinations. The L2 multicast features on the switch help control network flooding of Ethernet multicast and IP multicast traffic by keeping track of multicast group membership. It is essential that a multicast router be connected to a PowerConnect layer 2 multicast switch for IGMP/MLD snooping to operate properly. The presence of a multicast router allows the snooping switch to relay IGMP reports to the router and to forward multicast data sources to the multicast router as well as restrict flooding of multicast sources in a VLAN. What Are the Multicast Bridging Features? The PowerConnect 8000/8100-series switches support multicast filtering and multicast flooding. For multicast traffic, the switch uses a database called the Layer 2 Multicast Forwarding Database (MFDB) to make forwarding Configuring L2 Multicast Features 695