To multicast an image is to take an image of one computer (the master), immediately send it over the network to multiple other computers (the participants), and lay it down simultaneously on those computers.
As with all imaging operations involving a base image, the image is taken of all the partitions on the hard disks and other storage devices (such as Jaz* drives) of the master computer. Before the image is laid down on the participating computers, all existing partitions are removed from the hard disks and writable storage devices of those computers.
To conduct a multicast session, you can set up an automatic session by defining the session in ConsoleOne®, or you can physically visit each computer.
You can specify an image file or a workstation as the session master. Multicasting an image file from an imaging proxy server is new in ZfD 3.2. In previous versions of ZfD, the master had to be a Linux* workstation, which restricted multicasting to exact "cloning" of the workstation.
NOTE: For multicasting to work properly, the routers and switches on the network must have multicast features configured. Otherwise, multicast packets might not be routed properly.