Hands-On Multicasting Implementation and Troubleshooting

Course Description

The real time transfer of information from source to many receivers is increasingly a requirement of modern networks. While it is possible to transfer information with simple client server techniques developed within the Internet Protocol Suite, transfer using this unicasting does not scale well to large communities.

Multicasting provides a means of distributing information to multiple receivers at the same moment over a tree of paths through routed networks.

In its simplest form it can be used for the distribution of streams of multimedia over a private infrastructure delivering different channels each as a different multicast group address. In the corporate environment it might be carried over VPNs configured over MPLS infrastructures where the network provision may be separated from the sources and receivers. In such environments the configuration and troubleshooting of stream transmission becomes more challenging.

This course will provide a sound coverage of Multicast protocols and addressing. This will include Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) and Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) versions 2 and 3. Key addressing and multicast routing will be considered for both within Autonomous Systems and Between Autonomous Systems.

The scaling implications of both source tree and shared tree techniques will be considered and the mechanisms for advertising, requesting and pruning distributed streams will be considered.
The mechanisms available for monitoring and troubleshooting stream distributions on Cisco platforms will be considered.

Students Will Learn

Explain the benefits of multicasting
List various types of multicast applications and their requirements
Identify the addressing issues of IP multicasting
Explain the way multicast applications work and identify the prerequisites that have to be fulfilled for an implementation
Explain the principles and detailed operation of different Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) modes
Describe the variants of PIM sparse mode
Select multicast protocols for different environments
Use protocol analyzers to verify LAN performance and test services
Identify multicast protocols and discuss version interactions
Configure source tree and compare this with shared tree
Deploy sparse mode multicasting using PIM
Monitor and troubleshoot multicast route distribution
Manage Cisco multicast router platforms using SNMP MIBs
And more...

Target Audience

This course has been developed for those in need of implementing and troubleshooting IP multicast technology in their networks.

Prerequisites

Networking and TCP-IP is recommended.

Course Outline

1: Multicasting – Concepts and Addressing

Why we need multicasting
IP addressing
Multicast addressing at Layer 3
Reserved Link Local Addresses
Globally Scoped Addresses
Source Specific Multicast
GLOP Addresses
Limited Scope Addresses
Streaming Protocols
Real Time Streaming Protocol RFC 2326
Real Time Transport Protocol RFC 1889 and 3267
Hands-on Exercise Multicasting Video over Classroom Network

2: Layer 2 Multicast

Mapping Multicast to Layer 2
Layer 2 Multicast Addressing
Slow Protocol Multicast
Using Protocol Analyzers to monitor Multicast
Hands-on Exercise Using Protocol Analyzers to Monitor Multicast

3: Protocol Independent Multicast

Modes of Multicasting Compared:
Dense Mode
Sparse Mode
Sparse-Dense Mode
PIM-Sparse Mode RFC 2362
Defining a group and a tree
Establishing RPs
Shared Tree and Source Tree Compared
Switching between the two
Shortest Path Tree SPT-bit
Hello Exchanges
Exchanges prunes and joins
Flags Used
PIM Packets
Register and Register Stop
Multicast data packet forwarding
Sending and Receiving Asserts
Candidate-RP-Advertisements
Receiving and Forwarding Bootstrap Information
Hash Function
Timer Events
RFC 2715 Interoperability Rules
Hands-on Exercise Analyzing PIM Protocol Exchanges

4: Internet Group Management Protocol

IGMP v2 and IGMPv3 compared
Compatibility issues
Host States
IGMP State Transitions
IGMP Actions
Hands-on Exercise Using and Analyzing IGMP Protocol Exchanges

5: Configuring Multicasting on Cisco Platforms

Routing and Multicast Routing
Interface configuration
PIM-SM configuration
Defining RPs
IGMP configuration
Security considerations
Hands-on Exercise Configuring IP Multicasting

6: Multicasting over VLANs and VPNs

Virtual Local Area Networks
Virtual Private Networks
Configuring VLAN Trunking
Multicasting over trunked VLANs
Hands-on Exercise Using Trunked Multicast

7: Monitoring Multicasting Operations and Troubleshooting

Monitoring IGMP
Monitoring routing and Mroute tables
Scopes
Cisco Debug modes for multicast troubleshooting
Indications that multicast service is arriving or blocking
Hands-on Exercise Troubleshooting Multicast

8: Monitoring Multicast Video Quality

Measures of video stream quality
Capturing streams
Problems of carrying Multicast over WiFi
WiFi Multicast Relay
Hands-on Exercise Monitoring Video and reconstructing captured streams

9: Using SNMP to Manage Multicast

SNMP and MIBs
RFC 2932 IPMROUTE-MIB
IGMP-MIB
RFC 2934 PIM-MIB
CISCO-IGMP-FILTER-MIB
CISCO-IPMROUTE-MIB
Hands-on Exercise Using SNMP in the Management of Multicasting

Evaluation and Review

Delivery Method

Instructor-Led with Hands-On labs and exercises.

Equipment Requirements
(This apply's to our hands-on courses only)

BTS always provides equipment to have a very successful Hands-On course. BTS also encourages all attendees to bring their own equipment to the course. This will provide attendees the opportunity to incorporate their own gear into the labs and gain valuable training using their specific equipment.

Course Length

4 Days