What are pros and cons of Msmqdistributor service of Enterprise Library?

Question

We are using EntLib Logging Application Block. And also it turned out that we should use msmq for logging because of performance. Now we are trying to use Msmqdistributor service to log those messages in the queue.

What are pros and cons of Msmqdistributor service of Enterprise Library?

Please share your experience.

Answer 1

The main drawback is going to be the Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) itself. MSMQ has been around for awhile and it is a pretty cool tool. It does however lack utilities. Because of the way that data is stored in the queue, most people end up needing to write some helper utilities for debugging and manually manipulating the queue. Some other things to consider:

• Queue size - if too many items get put in the queue, and aren't removed in a timely manner the server can stall.
• Purpose - MSMQ is designed for multi-step transactions (such as billing), you mention you are going to use it for logging. If the log is just for debugging, Then a DB table or a flat file or sending errors to a bug tracker will serve you better. If you need complicated logging and are using MSMQ to send the information to a different copmuter, then you will find MSMQ more useful.