Multicast Anycast RP Configuration

There are a number of methods to create redundancy for our RPs (Rendezvous Points) in our multicast topology. Using AutoRP or Bootstrap we can configure multiple routers to advertise themselves as RPs (Rendezvous Points) so that when one router fails, another one can take over. Anycast RP is a different method to create redundancy…

The idea behind anycast RP is that we configure a single IP address on multiple routers and advertise it in our IGP. When you have multiple RPs with the same IP address, it means that our sources and receivers will always be routed to the closest RP based on the unicast routing table. PIM Join messages from receivers might be sent to one RP, while PIM-designated routers register their local sources to another RP.

To make sure that all Rendezvous points know about all the different sources out there, we will use MSDP (Multicast Source Discovery Protocol). Normally MSDP is used to allow multicast routing between different autonomous systems but it’s also a great companion for anycast RP.

Configuration

Let’s look at an example of how we can configure anycast RP. This is the topology that I will use:

In this scenario, R1 will be the source, and R4 will be the receiver for a multicast stream. R2 and R3 will be our Rendezvous points. Before we get to the interesting stuff, we’ll have to do our homework. I will enable OSPF on all interfaces so that our routing tables are filled:

R1,R2,R3 & R4:
(config)#router ospf 1
(config-router)#network 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 area 0

Don’t forget to enable multicast routing on R2 and R3 because they’ll have to forward the multicast packets:

R2 & R3:
(config)#ip multicast-routing

And make sure to enable PIM on the interfaces facing the source (R1), the receiver (R4), and between R2/R3:

R2(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/0
R2(config-if)#ip pim sparse-mode 
R2(config-if)#exit
R2(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/1
R2(config-if)#ip pim sparse-mode

R3(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/0
R3(config-if)#ip pim sparse-mode 
R3(config-if)#exit
R3(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/1
R3(config-if)#ip pim sparse-mode 

Now we get to the interesting part. We’ll create a new loopback interface on R2 and R3 where we configure the same IP address as the Rendezvous Point:

R2 & R3:
(config)#interface loopback 0
(config-if)#ip address 23.23.23.23 255.255.255.255

Make sure you advertise this address in your IGP. Because I used the network 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 command for OSPF, it will be automatically advertised. All routers that need to forward multicast traffic will have to know where the RP is. You can use AutoRP, Bootstrap, or static addresses for this. To keep things simple, I’ll use the static method:

R2 & R3:
(config)#ip pim rp-address 23.23.23.23

Now we will configure R4 to join a multicast group address (I’ll pick 239.1.1.1), and we’ll take a look at which RP it will join:

R4(config)#interface fastEthernet 0/0
R4(config-if)#ip igmp join-group 239.1.1.1

Of course R3 will be the closest RP for R4 so you’ll find a (*,G) entry for 239.1.1.1:

R3#show ip mroute 239.1.1.1
IP Multicast Routing Table
Flags: D - Dense, S - Sparse, B - Bidir Group, s - SSM Group, C - Connected,
       L - Local, P - Pruned, R - RP-bit set, F - Register flag,
       T - SPT-bit set, J - Join SPT, M - MSDP created entry,
       X - Proxy Join Timer Running, A - Candidate for MSDP Advertisement,
       U - URD, I - Received Source Specific Host Report,
       Z - Multicast Tunnel, z - MDT-data group sender,
       Y - Joined MDT-data group, y - Sending to MDT-data group
Outgoing interface flags: H - Hardware switched, A - Assert winner
 Timers: Uptime/Expires
 Interface state: Interface, Next-Hop or VCD, State/Mode

(*, 239.1.1.1), 00:06:35/00:02:08, RP 23.23.23.23, flags: SJC
  Incoming interface: Null, RPF nbr 0.0.0.0
  Outgoing interface list:
    FastEthernet0/1, Forward/Sparse, 00:06:35/00:02:08

Right now, nobody is sending anything to this multicast group address. Let’s send some pings from R1 to 239.1.1.1 to get the packets flowing…

R1#ping 239.1.1.1 repeat 5

Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 239.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
.....

None of our multicast packets make it to the receiver…any idea why? Let’s look at the multicast routing table on R2:

R2#show ip mroute 239.1.1.1
IP Multicast Routing Table
Flags: D - Dense, S - Sparse, B - Bidir Group, s - SSM Group, C - Connected,
       L - Local, P - Pruned, R - RP-bit set, F - Register flag,
       T - SPT-bit set, J - Join SPT, M - MSDP created entry,
       X - Proxy Join Timer Running, A - Candidate for MSDP Advertisement,
       U - URD, I - Received Source Specific Host Report,
       Z - Multicast Tunnel, z - MDT-data group sender,
       Y - Joined MDT-data group, y - Sending to MDT-data group
Outgoing interface flags: H - Hardware switched, A - Assert winner
 Timers: Uptime/Expires
 Interface state: Interface, Next-Hop or VCD, State/Mode

(*, 239.1.1.1), 00:01:17/stopped, RP 23.23.23.23, flags: SP
  Incoming interface: Null, RPF nbr 0.0.0.0
  Outgoing interface list: Null

(192.168.12.1, 239.1.1.1), 00:00:51/00:02:50, flags: PT
  Incoming interface: FastEthernet0/0, RPF nbr 0.0.0.0
  Outgoing interface list: Null

R2 is the closest RP for R1, and you can see the (192.168.12.1, 239.1.1.1) entry. There are no outgoing interfaces, however…what about R3, our second RP?

R3#show ip mroute 239.1.1.1
IP Multicast Routing Table
Flags: D - Dense, S - Sparse, B - Bidir Group, s - SSM Group, C - Connected,
       L - Local, P - Pruned, R - RP-bit set, F - Register flag,
       T - SPT-bit set, J - Join SPT, M - MSDP created entry,
       X - Proxy Join Timer Running, A - Candidate for MSDP Advertisement,
       U - URD, I - Received Source Specific Host Report,
       Z - Multicast Tunnel, z - MDT-data group sender,
       Y - Joined MDT-data group, y - Sending to MDT-data group
Outgoing interface flags: H - Hardware switched, A - Assert winner
 Timers: Uptime/Expires
 Interface state: Interface, Next-Hop or VCD, State/Mode

(*, 239.1.1.1), 00:07:28/00:02:12, RP 23.23.23.23, flags: SJC
  Incoming interface: Null, RPF nbr 0.0.0.0
  Outgoing interface list:
    FastEthernet0/1, Forward/Sparse, 00:07:28/00:02:12

Nothing has changed on R3. We still see the outgoing interface, but there is no incoming traffic! The problem is that our source has joined one RP (R2), and the receiver has joined another RP (R3). The two Rendezvous Points are not sharing any information, so we are stuck here. In order to solve this, R3 somehow needs to learn from R2 that there is an active source. This is exactly what MSDP will do for us!

To configure MSDP between the two RPs, we’ll use two new loopback interfaces with unique IP addresses. It will look like this:

Let’s create the loopback interfaces and configure MSDP: