Sql Server Service Broker: How to structure Conversations for a simple queue scenario?

Question

I\'m a Sql Server Service Broker novice and I\'m trying to grasp the best way to set Service Broker up for a (seemingly) simple use case: I want to create a simple work queue, w

Answer 1

You should start with each work item on its own conversation. The producer (initiator) begins a dialog and send the message describing the work item, then commits. The consumer (target) receives the message (or gets activated), inspects the payload to understand the work item details, executes the work, then ends the dialog and commit. The resulting EndDialog message gets sent back to the initiator service queue, and an activated procedure on the initiator queue responds to it by ending the dialog on the initiator side.

This is the simplest deployment and getting it up and running will ensure you have a sound foundation to build upon. Don't cut corners and end the dialog on the initiator side from when the producer enqueues the work item, this is fire-and-forget and has several draw backs.

If you have high performance requirements (over 200 requests per second) then you'll have to start managing the conversations more explicitly. I have a blog entry on reusing conversations for performance reasons. On the receive side I recommend reading Writing Service Broker Procedures.

I also have a blog entry that pretty much does what you need, albeit it does not schedule work items but instead launches a custom procedure: Asynchronous procedure execution.

If you decide to consume the work items from an activated context, thus leveraging the nice self balancing capabilities of activation, then you need to understand the EXECUTE AS context under which activation occurs.