Communication Modes

Just wanna take a moment to briefly explain the communication modes you will find in networking.

We have Four (4) communication modes:

1. Unicast: This is referred to as one-to-one communication.
In a scenario where one device sends data to ONLY one device at a time, that is an example of a unicast message.

2. Multicast: This is referred to as one-to-many communcation
In a multicast mode of communication, messages are sent from one source to multiple destinations at the same time.
A good example of a multicast message can be where you have a classroom full of people, and you walk in with a wish to speak to only those with brown hair. That way, you (the source) sends the message to only those group of people (one-to-many), out of the total number of people available.

3. Broadcast: This is referred to as one-to-all communication.
Broadcast messages are sent from one source to every destination connected to the source.
A good example of a broadcast is a radio. Everyone tuned in to that radio station will get the messages being transmitted, whether it is intended for them or not.
Having broadcasts on a network can significantly slow down activities, as the whole network could be flooded with messages not meant for everyone being broadcasted to everyone connected.

4. Anycast: This is referred to as one-to-nearest communication.
This communication mode is being utilized by IP version 6 (IPv6) and allows a form of communcation where a device communicates with the nearest of multiple destinations that can respond to its request.
This means that if there are say, two destinations that can receive and respond to the request initiated by a device, using anycast communication mode, only the "nearest" destination would respond.



IP version 4 (IPv4) makes use of Unicast, Multicast and Broadcast modes of communication, while IP version 6 (IPv6) makes use of Unicast, Multicast and Anycast modes of communication.