Which do I choose for hosting my in-proc server in a separate process - COM+ or DCOM?

Question

I need to shield a 64-bit COM component consumer from the 32-bit native C++ ATL in-proc COM component.

Seems like both COM+ and DCOM can host my in-proc component in a separate process and do the marshalling so that both me and the consumer application don't care of it and I even don't have to change my in-proc component at all. I tried both - both seem to "just work" after some initial use of the hammer for setting up the COM+ application or the DCOM application respectively.

I need a solution that would be the best in terms of deployment and problems diagnosing at the customers'. Which do I choose - COM+ or DCOM?

Answer 1

They're both working, so the choice doesn't seem that important. I would choose COM+ because:

• COM+ is newer than DCOM (and both are mature) and people sometimes use it from .NET as Enterprise Services.
• With COM+ you can create your own "applicaton" to host your components. That may make your components easier to find and maintain in the COM+ explorer.
• It seems like you don't need the distributed part of DCOM.