6 Global Discovery Server

6.2 Network Architectures

6.2.1 Overview

The discovery mechanisms defined in this standard are expected to be used in many different network architectures. The following three architectures are Illustrated:

• Single MulticastSubnet;
• Multiple MulticastSubnets;
• No MulticastSubnet (or multiple MulticastSubnets with exactly one host each); A MulticastSubnet is a network segment where all hosts on the segment can receive multicast packets from the other hosts on the segment. A physical LAN segment is typically a MulticastSubnet unless the administrator has specifically disabled multicast communication. In some cases multiple physical LAN segments can be connected as a single MulticastSubnet