Unicast and Multicast

[Senbonzakura]

In which type of situations would you use Unicast and Multicast? Is there one or the other you should always be using? Also, I was told when using hosted voice and you have like 10 VOIP phones only on the one switch that you should be using Multicast, is this true and why?

Thanks everyone :)

[Georg Pauwen]

Hello,

when to use unicast and when to use multicast depends on what you want to achieve. In general, if you want one-to-one communication, you would use unicast. If you want one-to-many communication, you use multicast. Typically, a video stream that is viewed by many users, is transmitted using multicast.

Have a look at the link below:

https://www.esds.co.in/blog/difference-between-unicast-broadcast-and-multicast/#sthash.O9cJaZvq.dpbs

[Senbonzakura]

That makes sense, what if it's not video streaming? Would you recommend multicast still?

[Georg Pauwen]

It really depends on what you are trying to achieve, and which application you are using to achieve it. Streaming audio and video typically use multicast.

What exactly is your specific requirement/network topology ?

[Senbonzakura]

Right now we have an ASA firewall feeding a 24-Port 2960-X Series Switch that has one port plugged into a Hosted Voice device in which hands out the dial tone then about 10 other ports feed VOIP phones. Then the last port on that switch feeds another 48-Port 2960-X Series Switch in which does DATA to the desktops and Wireless VLANs I have configured there. Phone, Wireless and Desktops are all in different VLANS which all meet up at the ASA firewall. The only applications being used on the desktops is a booking software and gravityzone bitdefender.

That's pretty much all that is being ran.