This setting determines the data transfer mode for the deployment.
The preset is: Multicast
With the Multicast transfer mode, Acronis Snap Deploy 4 OS Deploy Server sends data to a group of recipients simultaneously.
When the Switch to unicast if multicast fails during deployment check box is selected, the deployment server will automatically switch to using the unicast transfer mode if the network hardware, such as a router, does not allow multicasting or limits the distribution of multicast packets across the network. Switching to unicast may take up to one minute. After switching to unicast, the deployment server continues deployment.
Using the Unicast transfer mode, the server sends a copy of the data to each recipient. This can significantly reduce the deployment speed.
For example, suppose that you have a bandwidth of 100 MB per second, and you want to deploy a system to 10 target machines.
Multicast configuration has a parameter that specifies the time to live (TTL) for multicast packets. Use this parameter to limit multicast packets distribution via gateways.
The default value is 15. In practice, this enables the packets to pass up to 15 hops which may be treated as an unlimited distance. The minimal value 1 will limit the packets circulation to one subnet.
By setting the permitted bandwidth, you can limit the network usage during deployment. The default value is 1 gigabit (Gbit) per second.
Adjusting network utilization settings
Acronis Snap Deploy 4 uses Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) for multicasting. Therefore, all network hardware (such as routers or network switches) must be IGMP-capable and correctly configured. The specific information on configuring any particular router or network switch is usually available in the documentation provided with the hardware.
If there is no IGMP-capable hardware (or you cannot configure it correctly) in the network, use the Unicast data transfer mode.