Multicast vs Unicast Real World Numbers (Why Unicast is faster than Multicast???)
I have a question about Multicast vs Unicast. Is the following number looks normal? or am I missing something? How come my unicast speed is faster than multicast when deploying 5 machines??? I have Gigabit switch and aslo Gigabit NICs on all machines including the deploying server.
1 machine Unicast 17GB Image Speed: 25~27 MB/sec 12 mins
1 machine Multicast 17GB Image Speed: 7~9 MB/sec 40 mins
5 machines Unicast 17GB Image Speed: 21~24 MB/sec 15 mins
5 machines Multicast 17GB Image Speed: 9~10 MB/sec 35 mins
I'm still on a trial version and that's why I can only image 5 machiens max at a time. I'm planning to purchase the software and going to image about 30~40 Lab machines.
Any suggestions? Thank You in advance!!!
The only thing I can explain the result is maybe one out of the five laptops is slowing down the whole multicast process. If one of the laptop is slower or has probelm, it will slow down all the other laptops too in Multicast. For example, if 4 laptops got Gigabit NIC and 1 laptop got Megabit NIC, then the multicast will run at the slowest transfer rate as Megabit speed. However, all five laptops that I was using got the same specs.... or maybe one of them is having probem with the NIC or port problem. Anyone else?
I couldn't tell you why myself, but I can agree with your analysis as I find Unicast to be much faster than using Multicast.
You experienced the same probelm too? Your Unicast is faster than Multicast?
Hello SnapRider, and New2SnapDeploy,
Thank you for bringing this question up.
Multicast, and Unicast are actually based on different technologies, and cannot be compared, but the idea of Multicast is not to rush the process, but to provide a secure travel for your data. In general I like this explanation of the processes, check it out.
So unicast can be faster that a multicast. If you're concerned that the speed is abnormally slow, we can check the logs to make sure that there are no issues, and your data is transferred safely. Send us Acronis Info from the host machine, and Wireshark log.
Should you need anything else or have any further questions - feel free to contact us at your earliest convenience, we will be happy to help you!
Thank you.
P.S. I've contacted our QA team with the question regarding this speed. It was the same in our labs, so considered to be a normal behavior.