Before You Begin

Before you begin configuring a multicast network, complete the following tasks:

• If you do not already have a basic understanding of multicast, read Multicast Overview.
• Determine whether the Services Router is directly attached to any multicast sources. Receivers must be able to locate these sources.
• Determine whether the Services Router is directly attached to any multicast group receivers. If receivers are present, IGMP is needed.
• Determine whether to use the sparse, dense, or sparse-dense mode of multicast operation. Each mode has different configuration considerations.
• Determine the address of the rendezvous point (RP) if sparse or sparse-dense mode is used.
• Determine whether to locate the RP with the static configuration, bootstrap router (BSR), or Auto-RP method.
• Determine whether to configure multicast to use its own reverse-path forwarding (RPF) routing table when configuring PIM in sparse, dense, or sparse-dense modes.