3.3 Multi-homed Hosts

A multi-homed host is a machine with more than one network interface configured. This can be anything from a Linux system being used as a network router to a laptop computer with both an active Ethernet connection and an active wireless connection. If there are two or more network interfaces active at the same time (even if only one is actually being used) the system is “multi-homed.”

Some operating systems like Linux provide only very rudimentary routing as a default part of the operating system. They rely on external routing software like “mrouted” to support full multicast routing. As a result, problems might arise in multi-homed machines because outgoing multicast messages are sent on only one interface in the absence of more sophisticated routing software. It is possible that the interface chosen by the operating system is incorrect. The Orchestration Server and its associated tools make a best effort to ensure that discovery queries and announcements are sent on all available interfaces. It should not be necessary to run an external routing program with the current Orchestration Server.