Review Date: 06.04.2015
Description:
Pre 9.6 version it was possible to choose personalized MDRs.In version 9.6, the 'Multicast Domain Representatives' folder indicates that it is only for previous versions.
How can we select specific hosts for this feature in version 9.6?
Solution:
- In 9.5 and older we used Targeted Multicast, and it was the Core server’s job to select the MDRs and send the files out to them that were going to be multicasted. The reason we could manually specify MDRs was that the type of network packet used by the Core to select the MDRs would often get dropped at the routers on the network, and so the Core was unable to find out what machines were available to act as MDRs.
- In LDMS 9.6 we use Self-Organizing Multicast, now instead of the Core sending out a packet hoping to hear back from machines on the subnet, it just pushes the task out to all the machine included in the task. If a machine is on, it will get the task. Generally the first machine to get the push will act as the MDR. All other machines will recognize that client as the MDR for their subnet, and listen for the multicast once it begins. We can’t specify MDRs anymore, because it is not necessary, all the communication concerning who will be the MDR happens between the clients themselves, and the Core server is not involved in that part of the process anymore. And in the end it does not matter which machine is the MDR because the files will get out to the target devices.
NOTE: Multicast in LDMS 9.6 will not work for Software Distribution Tasks unless you have the LD96-CP_BASE-2015-0114 patch installed on the Core and Clients. That is a post SP1 patch, meaning you have to be up to SP1 also. Patch and Provisioning Multicast will work just fine.