All things related to multicast

[David Meyer <>]

        Kevin,

> On the WWW page:  http://www.internet2.edu/html/multicast.html/
> 
> There is now a document on the Status and Plans for Multicast Deployment 
> in Internet2.

        A few comments:

        o Connect to commodity Internet via MIXs: There are currently 5
          Multicast Inter-eXchange (MIXs). Connecting to the commodity
          Internet via these access points will offer the best logical
          connectivity. Currently, we are investigating connectivity
          at the NASA Ames MIX.  

        Does this mean that Abilene will transit multicast traffic
        from the commodity Internet (in much the same way that the vBNS
        does now), i.e., provide multicast transit for non-approved
        sources and receivers? If so, this has some design and policy
        implications.

        o Protocol Independent Multicast -- Spares Mode (PIM-SM):
          PIM-SM ...

        Implication: Receiver only DM regions with non-RTCP clients
        (e.g. Netshow, Real) are broken.


        o Abilene/vBNS Interconnect: Deployment and testing of
          MBGP/PIM-SM/MSDP in the....

        You talk about the DVMRP MBONE. I *highly* advise you to do
        what all the providers are doing and get it from AS10888. It's
        a proven and simple solution.

        o While the Abilene backbone consists of single-vendor
          routers, we still have the goal of being interoperable. 

        Data point: Cisco interoperates with the Juniper MBGP/PIM-SM
        implementation. 

        Dave