Protocol-Independent Multicast: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:08, 30 March 2017

Revision as of 21:34, 27 May 2017

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[[image:IGMP basic architecture.png|thumb|400px|Example of a multicast network architecture]]

'''Protocol-Independent Multicast''' ('''PIM''') is a family of [[multicast]] [[routing protocol]]s for [[Internet Protocol]] (IP) networks that provide one-to-many and many-to-many distribution of data over a [[LAN]], [[Wide area network|WAN]] or the [[Internet]]. It is termed ''protocol-independent'' because PIM does not include its own [[network topology|topology discovery]] mechanism, but instead uses routing information supplied by other [[routing protocol]]s. PIM is not dependent on a specific unicast routing protocol; it can make use of any unicast routing protocol in use on the network. PIM does not build its own [[routing tables]]. PIM uses the unicast [[routing table]] for [[reverse path forwarding]].<ref name="Cisco Multicast">{{citation |url=https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst3750x_3560x/software/release/15-2_2_e/multicast/configuration_guide/b_mc_1522e_3750x_3560x_cg/b_mc_3750x_3560x_chapter_011.html |title=IP Multicast Routing Configuration Guide |publisher=[[Cisco]] |access-date=2017-05-27 |page=56-57}}</ref>

There are four variants of PIM: