In Ethernet networking, what does multicast refer to?

In Ethernet networking, what does multicast refer to?

• A. Transmission of packets to a single address
• B. Transmission of packets to all addresses in the network
• C. Transmission of packets to a group of destination addresses
• D. Transmission of packets to a random destination address

Answer: (C)

In Ethernet networking, multicast refers to the transmission of packets to a group of destination addresses. This is a method of sending data where a single packet is sent to multiple specific recipients simultaneously, rather than broadcasting to all devices in the network or targeting just one device. Multicast is particularly beneficial for applications like streaming media or conference calls, where the same data is needed by multiple users at the same time. By using multicast, network resources are conserved since the same packet does not need to be sent separately to each recipient. In contrast, unicast denotes communication to a single device, and broadcast involves sending data to all devices on the network. Random address transmission does not accurately describe any common networking method and is not relevant in this context. Therefore, multicasting serves a distinct purpose within Ethernet networking by efficiently managing data distribution to specific groups of devices.

In Ethernet networking, multicast refers to the transmission of packets to a group of destination addresses. This is a method of sending data where a single packet is sent to multiple specific recipients simultaneously, rather than broadcasting to all devices in the network or targeting just one device.

Multicast is particularly beneficial for applications like streaming media or conference calls, where the same data is needed by multiple users at the same time. By using multicast, network resources are conserved since the same packet does not need to be sent separately to each recipient.

In contrast, unicast denotes communication to a single device, and broadcast involves sending data to all devices on the network. Random address transmission does not accurately describe any common networking method and is not relevant in this context. Therefore, multicasting serves a distinct purpose within Ethernet networking by efficiently managing data distribution to specific groups of devices.