Internet Protocols Questions Medium
The purpose of the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is to enable hosts on an Internet Protocol (IP) network to report their multicast group memberships to any neighboring multicast routers. IGMP allows routers to learn which hosts belong to specific multicast groups, allowing them to efficiently forward multicast traffic only to the hosts that have expressed interest in receiving it. This protocol is crucial for the functioning of multicast communication, where a single sender can transmit data to multiple recipients simultaneously. By using IGMP, routers can maintain accurate group membership information and optimize the delivery of multicast traffic within a network.