How does UDP multicast work on Windows Azure cloud service?

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In Windows Azure cloud service, UDP multicast works by using a virtual network. A virtual network is a controlled and isolated network environment that allows different Azure resources (such as virtual machines and cloud services) to communicate with each other securely.

To enable UDP multicast in Azure, you need to create a virtual network and a subnet. Once the virtual network is set up, you can configure the DNS settings for the subnet to enable multicast DNS resolution.

After the virtual network is configured for UDP multicast, you can start sending multicast packets across the network. Any device that is connected to the virtual network and has joined the multicast group will receive the multicast packets.

However, it is important to note that Azure provides limited support for UDP multicast. Currently, Azure only supports IPv4 multicast groups and multicast traffic is restricted to the same datacenter region. Additionally, multicast traffic can be affected by Azure network partitioning, meaning that multicast traffic may not be delivered reliably in some scenarios.