Difference Between Unicast, Multicast, Broadcast and Anycast Transmission Types

Unicast, Multicast, Broadcast and Anycast are the transmission types or the form in which network traffics can be transported from a single source to another destination.

Note:

The term cast is referred to as the streams of bits (called packets) which are transmitted from the client side to the recipient side over a communication link or channel.

Unicast - (One - Cast)

Unicast is termed as a one to one transmission in which traffic (consisting of streams of packets) is transmitted from a single source to a single destination device.

It is the most common form of packet or data transmission across a network. For example, a web server sending to a specific mobile device.

Multicast - (Many - Cast)

Multicast is termed as a one-to-many transmission in which traffic (consisting of streams of packets) is transmitted from a single source to a several or multiple destination devices.

It is used to transfer to some specific hosts, but not all the hosts in a network.

Anycast - (Any - Cast)

Anycast is termed as a one to any transmission in which traffic (consisting of streams of packets) is transmitted from a single source to any destination device (mostly the nearest device).

Broadcast - (All - Cast)

Broadcast is termed as a one-to-all transmission, in which traffic (consisting of streams of packets) is transmitted from a single source to all destination devices.

It is also a common form of data transmission across network as it is use in LAN (Local Area Network). It is also used by the radio station by broadcasting to all host tuning to their station.