Multicast option in Azure

MS Techie 2,676 Reputation points
2021-02-26T09:22:05.943+00:00

Hi,,
Do we have the option to support Multicast in Azure ?

Which protocol supports Multicast.. Is it UDP or TCP ?

Azure Virtual Network
Azure Virtual Network
An Azure networking service that is used to provision private networks and optionally to connect to on-premises datacenters.
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  1. GitaraniSharma-MSFT 47,006 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2021-11-09T01:18:48.797+00:00

    <<<<<UPDATE>>>>>>
    Hello @MS Techie ,
    Just wanted to provide a new update on this post as we now have an Azure Marketplace managed application that implements a Cloud Based Virtual Switch which enables Multicast on Azure.
    Please find the link to the application below:
    https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/apps/swxtchiollc1614108926893.cloudswxtch-vm-001?exp=ubp8&tab=Overview

    Regards,
    Gita

    8 people found this answer helpful.
  2. Gregory Leake 31 Reputation points
    2023-02-02T08:13:09.3+00:00

    Multicast on Azure is supported now: via swXtch.io, search Azure Marketplace. It is IGMP compliant (UDP based); meaning no code changes for producers/consumers in a multicast group. And, it will shortly do fan out via TCP, also QUIC, SRT etc. But please search swXtch or "multicast" within Azure Marketplace. Runs on all existing Azure Infra (just compute/networking required); so any region on Azure. And, can do on-prem to Azure, cross vNET, cross Region, cross-subscription. fyi..

    -Gregory Leake, Azure Engineering

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. GitaraniSharma-MSFT 47,006 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2021-03-02T11:26:46.957+00:00

    Hello @MS Techie ,

    Multicast is not supported on Azure. It is going to be blocked by the fabric, which will not route multicast group IP addresses, nor subscribe to different multicast flows. There are numerous scalability challenges to support multicast in the network infrastructure. Given the security implications, we are not likely to support multicast in the near future.
    Please refer : https://feedback.azure.com/forums/217313-networking/suggestions/3741233-support-multicast-within-virtual-networks#{toggle_previous_statuses}

    As far as workaround is concerned, there are few options in the market such as weave or n2n which provide an overlay based solution.
    For example : https://blog.pythian.com/network-multicast-support-azure/

    However, we have not tested any of the solutions nor do we specifically recommend one.

    Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please "Accept the answer" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. SUNOJ KUMAR YELURU 13,921 Reputation points MVP
    2021-02-26T09:57:08.137+00:00

    Hi @MS Techie
    Do VNets support multicast or broadcast?
    No. Multicast and broadcast are not supported.

    If the Answer is helpful, please click Accept Answer and up-vote, this can be beneficial to other community members.

  5. Darren Neimke 1 Reputation point
    2021-04-13T20:55:01.717+00:00

    Take a look at SignalR. It provides support for multicast functionality over a Web socket connection. Clients send messages to a hub which are then broadcasted to all clients connected to the hub.

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