Bootstrap Router
The Bootstrap Router (BSR) capability was added in PIM version 2. It automates and simplifies the Auto-RP process. It is enabled by default in Cisco IOS releases supporting PIMv2. There are interoperability and design issues with PIM v1. See the Configuration Guide for more advice on this. The short form of the advice is to set up your BSR to also be Auto-RP mapping agent, make sure all RP's run PIMv2, and then the PIM versions can interoperate. We'll assume you have upgraded your routers and all are running PIM v2. This means you'll have one active RP per multicast group, compared to several for the same group in PIMv1. You configure sparse-dense-mode on interfaces, since Sparse or Dense are now properties of a multicast group, not an interface. PIMv1 plus Auto-RP does the same tasks as BSR. But Auto-RP is Cisco proprietary, whereas PIMv2 with BSR is an IETF standards track protocol, which means it should interoperate with routers from other vendors. To use Bootstrap Route...