Multicast in Java

Multicast in Java

This section introduces you how to deliver or transmit data in network and describes the fundamental of various techniques like: unicast, broadcast and multicast. The detail information is given bellow: 

 There are following types  of method for delivering or transmitting data in the network.

1. Unicast
2. Multicast
3. Broadcast

1. Unicast: This method solves network traffic problems to deliver messages from one host to another. Here, data can be delivered to one specific destination IP (Internet Protocol) address that means only one sender sends data and another receives at a time. So, you can say that this is one-to-one data delivering method like: walky-talky and telephone or mobile phone. These equipments provide the facility of transferring data only one user at a time. If one user uses this then another is not accessed. 

The unicast method is not efficient for network traffic problem because it supports one-to-one transmission that consumes more time and provides slow processing for deliver data from one user to another.

Following diagram determines the functionality of unicast method:

Figure - Unicast

2. Multicast: In this method, you can transmit data or messages to all destination host machines, which has been interested an appropriate multicast  group. The sender generates only one data stream but it delivered to all destination hosts. It supports one-to-many data delivering networks. Multicast delivers a data or information simultaneously to all interested destination hosts machines. The multicast methodology are used in case of teleconferencing and videoconferencing. The teleconferencing and videoconferencing machines transmit data simultaneously to all interested parties present in the same group.

Multicast provides the best features to unicast and broadcast because, here neither carries the burden of data to delivering all hosts nor miss-utilize the entire network. Users are joined in the multicast groups to follows an appropriate standards like: IP Multicast and Mbone.

In case of addressing and classifying the entire network, multicast is placed in a class 'D' IP address and which has addresses space 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255.

Following diagram determines the functionality of Multicast method:

Figure - Multicast

3. Broadcast: It provides better facility to solve a network traffic problems than unicast. In broadcast, the server generates only one data stream but it can be delivered to all destination host whether interested or not. Here transmitting data or packets to be received by every host machine on entire network that means you send data or messages to multiple host at a time or simultaneously. It uses in the e-mail systems and some fax system. In case of e-mail and fax system, you give more than one addresses in place of address and send it then all destination receive this message simultaneously. 

This data delivering process is fast but a network carries more burden in delivering. So, the values of network resources are worst and miss-utilize the entire network. Ethernet and IPv4 are used to represent the broadcast address and packet but IPv6 does not support directed broadcasts or local broadcasts.

Following diagram determines the functionality of Broadcast method:

Figure - Broadcast