Mixing PIM Sparse and Dense Modes

It is possible to mix PIM dense mode, PIM sparse mode, and PIM SSM on the same network, the same router, and even the same interface. This is because modes are effectively tied to multicast groups, an IP multicast group address must be unique for a particular group's traffic, and scoping limits enforce the division between potential or actual overlaps.

A multicast router employing sparse-dense mode is a good example of mixing PIM modes on the same network or router or interface. Dense modes are easy to support because of the flooding, but the scaling issues make dense modes inappropriate for Internet use beyond very restricted uses.

PIM sparse mode was capable of forming SPTs already. Changes to PIM sparse mode to support PIM SSM mainly involved defining behavior in the SSM address range, because shared-tree behavior is prohibited for groups in the SSM address range.