In regards to multicast aliasing, I question the accuracy in the presentation. An IGMP join for a multicast stream is at the network layer. An IGMP join that is snooped by a switch will only forward frames encapsulating a datagram with the multicast host group from the join. On a Cisco switch, you can see the IGMP table with the command ‘show ip igmp snooping groups’. I believe the command is the same for Arista. The multicast group IPv4 address is listed in the table. Edit: I did some more research and I think what I stated above is true when ‘IP-based’ is configured. What is said in the presentation holds true for ‘Mac-based’. This is in Cisco terminology. Also the command is for a router not a switch. None the less, there is a simple solution for the aliasing problem.
A hop has a long historical meaning. A hop is a router. My opinion is that it should not be used when describing traffic flowing through ‘daisy chained’ (cascaded) switches.
does there exist some system modeler to predict/test network configurations with particular setups? Some system where one could test switch or device failures in a system?
Standard 7280sr2 switches, I think. Running pim-sm with a static rp. Nothing special about the configs, just unicast and multicast routing enabled with endpoints in vlans on each switch.
