Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast in Ethernet 🌐

In Ethernet, there are three types of transmissions: unicast, multicast, and broadcast. Let's explore each of them:

📩 Unicast Transmission 📩

Unicast transmission refers to the communication between two devices, where data is sent from one device to a specific destination device. In Ethernet, unicast transmissions are identified by the least significant bit in the first octet of the destination MAC address. If this bit is set to zero, it indicates that the Ethernet frame is intended for only the destination address. The frame is sent to all devices on the collision domain but is actually received and processed only by the intended destination.

📢 Multicast Transmission 📢

Multicast transmission involves sending data to a group of devices on the local network segment. In Ethernet, multicast frames are identified by setting the least significant bit in the first octet of the destination MAC address to one. Similar to broadcast frames, multicast frames are sent to all devices on the local network segment. However, each device decides whether to accept or discard the frame based on criteria other than their own hardware MAC address. Network interfaces can be configured with lists of multicast addresses to determine which multicast frames they accept.

📣 Broadcast Transmission 📣

Broadcast transmission is the process of sending data to all devices on a local area network (LAN). In Ethernet, broadcast frames are sent to every single device on the LAN. These frames use a special destination known as the broadcast address, which is represented by all F's (FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF). Ethernet broadcasts are commonly used for devices to discover and learn more about each other on the network.

That covers the three types of transmissions in Ethernet: unicast, multicast, and broadcast. Each serves a specific purpose in facilitating communication between devices on a network.