34 CHAPTER 3: USING MULTICAST FILTERING
routers on the subnetwork. Upon receiving such a message, the querier 
determines whether that host is the last group member on the 
subnetwork by issuing a group-specific query.
Leave-group messages reduce leave latency — that is, the time between 
when the last group member on a given subnetwork sends a report and 
when a router stops forwarding traffic for that group onto the 
subnetwork. This process conserves bandwidth. The alternative is for the 
router to wait for at least two queries to go unanswered before pruning 
that subnetwork from the delivery tree.
Role of IGMP in IP
Multicast Filtering
To further refine the IP multicast delivery process and maximize 
bandwidth efficiency, the Switch filters IP multicast packets on 
appropriate ports using a process called IGMP snooping. Both bridged 
interfaces and routed interfaces record which ports receive host IGMP 
reports and then set their filters accordingly so that IP multicast traffic for 
particular groups is not forwarded on ports or VLANs that do not require 
it.