Configuring multicasting in Enterprise Server 10

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

This article describe how to configure multicasting in Enterprise Server 10.

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.

Tip: (For Enterprise Server 10.1 or higher only) Easily manage and configure settings of all configuration files by adding them to a single configuration file.

Step 1a. Configure the following options:

• Option: Time-to-live
• Name in file: MULTICAST_TTL
• Location: SERVERFEATURES
• 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: SERVERFEATURES
• 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: SERVERFEATURES
• Possible values: The port on which messages are sent.
• Default value: 8093
• Example:

define ('EventPort', '8093'),

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

define ('MulticastGroup', '224.0.252.1'),

Step 1b. Disable the following option:

• Name in file: Broadcasting
• Location: SERVERFEATURES
• Example:

// define ('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: