All things related to multicast

["Jill Gemmill" <>]

  > This kind of problem is tough to cover at this kind of member meeting.
  > It is more designed for a Techs Workshop.  Who from your campus has been
  > attending these?  In fact, there have already been a number of events
  > which focus on exactly the questions you are asking.

Let's have a look at Shirl Grant's presentation from the June vBNS techs
meeting - it is 99% on the subject of how to configure the router at the 
campus
entrance.
End-users live a distance away from there.

  The way multicast (or any other service for that matter)
  > typically gets deployed is if someone on the campus makes the effort
  > to learn how to get it running.   Granted, the amount of available
  > information is somewhat sparse, but that problem is improving.  Right
  > now, it takes just a little bit of extra effort.  And a fair number of
  > campuses and gigapops have demonstrated it is possible (see I2 multicast
  > WWW page for maps with lists of connected sites).

My university is multicast enabled - we get our feed, which is currently PIM
Dense Mode, through SoX in Atlanta. There are at least 6 desktops here that 
can
receive multicast traffic.  What we're doing is "standards based", as long as
all the switches are from a single vendor.  Problem solved?  Deliverable to 
any
desktop?  I guess you could say this is an example of a successful deployment.
I spent too much time as an end-user, I guess; if I don't have the potential 
to
deliver it anywhere, is it really a service?

  > Multicast: A discussion of how the support of high-speed
  > native multicast by Internet2/NGI backbones is requiring upgrades to
  > campus/GigaPoP networks as well as work on multicast-capable applications.
  >

Right now, campuses are investing in equipment upgrades - what we're buying 
will
be in the field for at least the next 3 years.  I think that fact 
significantly
impacts multicast as a deliverable service over the same time period.