Where Can I Use This?	What Do I Need?
Prisma SD-WAN	Active Prisma SD-WAN license

IP multicast is a set of protocols that network appliances use to send multicast IP datagrams to a group of interested receivers using one transmission rather than unicasting the traffic to multiple receivers, thereby saving bandwidth. IP multicast is suitable for communication from one source (or many sources) to many receivers, such as audio or video streaming, IPTV, video conferencing, and distribution of other communication, such as news and financial data.A multicast address identifies a group of receivers that want to receive the traffic going to that address. You should not use the multicast addresses reserved for special uses, such as the range 224.0.0.0 through 224.0.0.255 or 239.0.0.0 through 239.255.255.255. Multicast traffic uses UDP, which does not resend missed packets.

Starting with Release 6.0.1, Prisma SD-WAN ION devices support multicast over WAN and LAN. A branch site supports LAN multicast senders and receivers, although it can only receive WAN multicast traffic. A data center site transmits multicast traffic to connected branch sites over VPNs that are established over WAN underlay interfaces. A data center site does not support receivers connected to it.

For device software versions greater than or equal to 6.2.1:

• A data center site supports a maximum of 400 branch sites for multicast traffic.
• For a specific multicast group, a data center site supports a maximum of 400 branch sites subscribing to that multicast group.

For device software versions between 6.0.1 and 6.2.1:

• A data center site supports a maximum of 250 branch sites.
• For a specific multicast group, a data center site supports a maximum of 64 branch sites subscribing to that multicast group.

Data center ION devices running software versions lower than 6.0.1 do not support multicast. Use the following table to view the multicast support per device type and software version.

ION Device Software Version	Type of Site	Type of Multicast Supported
Lower than 6.0.x but higher than or equal to 5.6.1	Branch Site	Supports multicast on LAN interfaces only.
Lower than 6.0.x	Data Center Site	Does not support multicast.
6.0.1 and higher	Branch Site	Supports multicast on LAN and Prisma SD-WAN VPN (public only) interfaces.
6.0.1 and higher	Data Center Site	Receives multicast from peers and transmits to branch sites over Prisma SD-WAN VPN (public only).
6.1.1 and higher	Data Center Site	Receives multicast from peers and branch sites and transmits to branch sites over public and private Prisma SD-WAN VPNs.

A branch ION device supports multicast on a maximum of 30 PIM interfaces, including VLAN sub-interfaces. Multicast is not supported with secondary addresses on an interface; that is, only the primary address is considered and secondary addresses are not sent in a PIM HELLO packet to a neighbor.

ION Device	Type of Interface/Used For	Multicast Support	Can Multicast be configured on the Interface?
Branch Site	Port (LAN)	Yes (Transmit + Receive)	Yes
Branch Site	Sub-interface (VLAN)	Yes (Transmit + Receive)	Yes
Branch Site	Port (WAN)	Yes (Receive only over Prisma SD-WAN VPN (public only))	No (Only global configuration is possible)
Branch Site/Data Center Site	Virtual Interface	No	No
Branch Site	Secondary IP address on an interface	No	No
Data Center Site	Port (Peer with a Network for Use This Port For)	Yes, only if a Private WAN circuit label is not attached. Can receive multicast traffic from peers and transmit to branch sites over public and private Prisma SD-WAN VPNs.	With a Private WAN circuit label attached—You cannot configure an interface for multicast, if you have assigned a Private WAN circuit label. Without a Private WAN circuit label—You can configure an interface, but this interface can only source multicast traffic from an upstream multicast router.
Data Center Site	Port (Use This Port For — Public)	No. Can receive multicast traffic from peers and transmit to branch sites over public and private Prisma SD-WAN VPNs.	No

You can enable LAN interfaces on the ION device for multicast only if you:

Starting with Release 6.1.1, Prisma SD-WAN supports Branch Side Source (BSS) multicast. This allows receivers at a branch site to receive multicast traffic from another branch site over the WAN. The receiver at a branch site sends a Join request for the BSS groups to the data center site. The data center site then forwards this Join request to the transmitting branch site. Multicast traffic is replicated to the branch sites only via the corresponding data center sites.

In order to configure LAN multicast routing, you need to configure a Rendezvous Point (RP) and enable multicast on at least one layer 3 LAN interface in the network.

In order to configure WAN multicast routing, you have to create a WAN multicast configuration profile and associate it with a branch site. You have to enable multicast on the data center ION device. You can either create a static RP or learn RPs dynamically.

To receive multicast traffic from a sourcing branch site:

Use the following links to configure multicast.