By using a datagram socket, it is possible to send broadcast packets on many networks supported by the system. The network itself must support broadcast: the system provides no simulation of broadcast in software. Broadcast messages can place a high load on a network, since they force every host on the network to service them. Consequently, the ability to send broadcast packets has been limited to sockets which are explicitly marked as allowing broadcasting. Broadcast is typically used for one of two reasons: it is desired to find a resource on a local network without prior knowledge of its address, or important functions such as routing require that information be sent to all accessible neighbors.
The destination address of the message to be broadcast depends on the network(s) on which the message is to be broadcast. The Internet domain supports a shorthand notation for broadcast on the local network, the address INADDR_BROADCAST. Received broadcast messages contain the senders address and port, as datagram sockets must be bound before use.
Some types of network support the notion of different types of broadcast. For example, the IEEE 802.5 token ring architecture supports the use of link-level broadcast indicators, which control whether broadcasts are forwarded by bridges. The Windows Sockets specification does not provide any mechanism whereby an application can determine the type of underlying network, nor any way to control the semantics of broadcasting.