Configuring multicasting in Enterprise Server 9

Multicasting is an alternative to the broadcasting feature and should be used in segmented networks with multiple subnets.

Requirements

This feature makes use of a 'Multicast Mediator' which takes care of the multicasting. It is a separate service written in Python that needs to run continuously on a server machine.

Various versions of Python exist; make sure to use Python version 2.x.

Configuration steps

Step 1. Open the configserver.php file for the Enterprise Server installation.

Step 1a. Configure the following options:

• Option: Time-to-live
• Name in file: MULTICAST_TTL
• Location: Multicasting
• Possible values:
• 0 Host
• 1 Subnet
• 32 Site
• 64 Region
• 128 Continent
• 255 Unrestricted
• Default value: 32
• Example:

define ('MULTICAST_TTL', 32);

• Option: Network interface connection
• Name in file: MULTICAST_IF
• Location: Multicasting
• Possible values: The address of your network card.
• Default value: 127.0.0.1
• Example:

define ('MULTICAST_IF', '127.0.0.1'),

Note: Multicast messages are sent out through the network interface. Make sure that the right interface is referenced, especially if your server machine has more than one network card.

• Option: Event port
• Name in file: EventPort
• Location: Server Features
• Possible values: The port on which messages are sent.
• Default value: 8093
• Example:

new Feature( 'EventPort' , 8093 ),

• Option: Multicast Group
• Name in file: MulticastGroup
• Location: Server Features
• Possible values: The address of the multicast group.
• Default value: 224.0.252.1
• Example:

new Feature( 'MulticastGroup' , '224.0.252.1'),

Step 1b. Disable the following option:

• Name in file: Broadcasting
• Location: Server Features
• Example:

// new Feature( 'Broadcasting' ),

Note: Messages are sent to the client applications by using either 'Broadcasting' or 'Multicasting'. When using multicasting therefore, the Broadcasting option needs to be disabled.

Step 2 Configure the Multicast Mediator.

Enterprise Server itself cannot perform multicasting because this is not supported by PHP. Instead, a Multicast Mediator is used (shipped with Enterprise).

This Multicast Mediator is a separate service written in Python that needs to run continuously on a server machine. This essentially means that Python needs to be installed to let Enterprise perform multicasting. The Enterprise server tells the mediator through TCP/IP which multicast messages need to be send.

The following Multicast Mediator settings can be controlled:

Document history

• 21 February 2017: Requirements section added.