Multicast option in Azure

Question

Multicast option in Azure

MS Techie 2,311

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

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

SUNOJ KUMAR YELURU 12,396 Reputation points Microsoft MVP

2021-03-05T02:56:16.087+00:00

Please see on the below comments, Microsoft Employee also confirmed multicast is not supported on azure.
To follow-up, Please let us know if you have further query on this.
Please don’t forget to Accept the answer
GitaraniSharma-MSFT 27,071 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-03-08T08:06:45.1+00:00

Hello @MS Techie ,

Just checking in to see if the below answer helped. If this answers your query, please don’t forget to click "Accept the answer" and Up-Vote for the same, which might be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Thanks,
Gita
Gregory Leake 21 Reputation points

2022-05-10T07:46:31+00:00

Multicast on Azure is supported now, via tightly-integrated partner solution, designed on Azure, for Azure, with MS customer feedback. Can test for free, via free trial, see: swXtch.io on Azure Marketplace. Runs entirely on existing Azure infrastructure (only compute, networking required, meaning any region): supports on-prem to Azure, cross vNET, cross region, cross subscription.
Gregory Leake 21 Reputation points

2022-05-10T07:52:03.343+00:00

It 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

SUNOJ KUMAR YELURU 12,396 Reputation points Microsoft MVP

2021-03-05T02:56:16.087+00:00

Please see on the below comments, Microsoft Employee also confirmed multicast is not supported on azure.
To follow-up, Please let us know if you have further query on this.
Please don’t forget to Accept the answer
GitaraniSharma-MSFT 27,071 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2021-03-08T08:06:45.1+00:00

Hello @MS Techie ,

Just checking in to see if the below answer helped. If this answers your query, please don’t forget to click "Accept the answer" and Up-Vote for the same, which might be beneficial to other community members reading this thread. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Thanks,
Gita
Gregory Leake 21 Reputation points

2022-05-10T07:46:31+00:00

Multicast on Azure is supported now, via tightly-integrated partner solution, designed on Azure, for Azure, with MS customer feedback. Can test for free, via free trial, see: swXtch.io on Azure Marketplace. Runs entirely on existing Azure infrastructure (only compute, networking required, meaning any region): supports on-prem to Azure, cross vNET, cross region, cross subscription.
Gregory Leake 21 Reputation points

2022-05-10T07:52:03.343+00:00

It 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

Answer 1

GitaraniSharma-MSFT 27,071 Microsoft Employee

<<<<<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.sdmc-1_1?tab=Overview

Regards,
Gita

Denis Dal Molin 46 Reputation points

2023-01-26T13:39:56.8233333+00:00

attached link is broken

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

SUNOJ KUMAR YELURU 12,396 Microsoft MVP

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.

MS Techie 2,311 Reputation points

2021-02-26T13:39:29.687+00:00

I had already seen this link before https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-network/virtual-networks-faq#do-vnets-support-multicast-or-broadcast

But i read somewhere that multicast on UDP is supported in Azure ? is it correct ? not able to find link again on this.

Can Microsoft Azure please comment on this .

In case Multicast is not supported in Azure , what are the Alternatives for the same Please help

Answer 4

Darren Neimke 1

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.

Multicast option in Azure

4 answers

Activity