Beginning, Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Administration

Chapter 19. Introduction to Service Broker

SQL Server 2005 introduced a new feature, known as Service Broker, that allows you to build more robust applications without having to rely on external technologies. Similar in concept to the Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) service, Service Broker allows you to define services within one or more SQL Server databases that can all interact with one another and build communication paths for more complete end-to-end connectivity using native SQL Server features.

This chapter examines the basics of how the Service Broker features operate and how they can be leveraged to provide you with a mechanism for building inclusive application solutions. This chapter covers the following topics:

• Service-Oriented Architecture

• Service Broker overview

• Service Broker elements

• Service Broker security

• A sample Service Broker application

Service-Oriented Architecture

Service Broker employs a model that uses Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for defining how data is treated by the variety of applications that will interact with it. SOA is based on the idea of separating data from the different processes that will view or manipulate that data. This allows you to build applications that do one thing, and do it well, without having to format the data to fit the application.

A good example of SOA in action is e-mail. Many of us use e-mail every day without thinking about what happens behind the scenes when we send an electronic message to someone. When I open up my Microsoft ...