What are the guidelines for using unicast and multicast with Ghost?

Unicast is best when taking an image or when restoring an image to up to 5 computers at a time. If you have routers or switches that are not configured for multicast, use unicast. In some cases you may be able to ghost across a WAN, but it is not recommended. Check the document 'Can Ghost be used across a Wide Area Network ( WAN ) ?' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151727

• For more than 5 computers at a time, use multicasting or directed broadcast. Routers and switches typically are not pre-configured for use with multicast.
• Directed broadcast is basically multicasting to a particular subnet.

NOTE: Typically, when configuring multicasting on routers and switches, include configuration for IGMP. See the document 'Ghost compatibility with IGMP' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151701

NOTE: Regardless of which type of communication you choose, a network can get flooded when Ghost is left unthrottled. Check the document 'Throttling Symantec Ghost to reduce the load on the network' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151776


References
Title: 'Information on configuring Multicast on routers, hubs, switches, and so on' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151691

• Title: 'How to use UNICAST in a Ghostcast Server session' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151718
• Title: 'Introduction to Ghost multicasting' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151686
• Title: 'How Ghost Multicasting communicates over the network' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151697
• Title: 'How the Ghost Console and Client communicate over the network' at https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleId=151714