Multicasting on the Internet and its Applications

This book covers the entire spectrum of multicasting on the Internet from link- to application-layer issues, including multicasting in broadcast and non-broadcast links, multicast routing, reliable and real-time multicast transport, group membership and total ordering in multicast groups. In-depth consideration is given to describing IP multicast routing protocols, such as, DVMRP, MOSPF, PIM and CBT, quality of service issues in network-layer using RSVP and ST-2, as well as the relationship between ATM and IP multicast. These discussions include coverage of key concepts using illustrative diagrams and various real-world applications. The protocols and the architecture of MBone are described, real-time multicast transport issues are addressed and various reliable multicast transport protocols are compared both conceptually and analytically. Also included is a discussion of video multicast and other cutting-edge research on multicast with an assessment of their potential impact on future internetworks. Multicasting on the Internet and Its Applications is an invaluable reference work for networking professionals and researchers, network software developers, information technology managers and graduate students.