I already asked this question at the JOS-.NET board but Joel is closing that board down so here it is again:
Do web hosting providers allow you to install Windows Services? I want to play around with some automation stuff, which I can currently do fine from my own dev pc, but I would like to start opening this stuff up to the public. However, do web hosts allow you to run installutil.exe?
If anyone has experience with this please let me know. Thanks.
What you are looking for in ASP.NET is a background process. This is a process implemented as a separate thread that you will store at the Application object.
In general it is not advisable to do something like this because it does not scale well. It will compete for resources with IIS/ASP.NET proccess.
Google it for more information --> google search.
EDIT: As other's have said. Usually ISPs will not let you install service apps. Using a background process is the solution on those cases.
No, 99% of the hosting providers, at least for shared hosting environments do NOT let you install windows services to augment your site functionality.
If you are on a VPS or dedicated setup, and have access to remote desktop into the machine then yes, you can.
Thanks Mitchel and vmarquez.
I found this round about way of implementing a service but without having to actually install a service.
However, it is a bit hokie in implementation, so I might just go and try the VPS/dedicated route.