Message Queuing Overview
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) is a messaging infrastructure and a development tool for creating distributed messaging applications for Microsoft Windows. Applications developed for Message Queuing send messages to queues, which are temporary storage locations, from which messages can proceed to their final destination as conditions permit. Such applications can communicate across heterogeneous networks and can send messages between computers that might be temporarily unable to connect to one another. Message Queuing provides the following benefits:
Guaranteed message delivery
Efficient routing
Improved security
Support for sending messages within transactions
Priority-based messaging
Software products with these features are often referred to in the industry as:
Message-queuing software
Store-and-forward software
Message-oriented middleware
With Message Queuing, end users can communicate across networks and computers that might be offline, regardless of the current state of the network and computers. System administrators can use Message Queuing to efficiently manage large, complex networks of computers and message queues.
This topic describes the features that are available with Message Queuing.
Message Queuing Server
This feature is the core component of Message Queuing, which enables you to perform basic Message Queuing functions. For more information about the Message Queuing Server feature see What is Message Queuing at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93512.
Directory Service Integration
This feature enables publishing of queue properties to Active Directory, out-of-the-box authentication and encryption of messages using certificates registered in Active Directory, and routing of messages across sites. For more information about the Directory Service Integration feature see Directory Service Integration Feature at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93513.
Message Queuing Triggers
This feature enables the invocation of a COM component or an executable depending on the filters that you define for the incoming messages in a given queue. For more information about the Message Queuing Triggers feature see Triggers Overview at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93514.
HTTP Support
This feature enables the sending and receiving of messages over HTTP. For more information about the HTTP Support feature see Internet Messaging at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93515.
Multicasting Support
This feature enables queuing and sending of multicast messages to a multicast IP address. For more information about the Multicasting Support feature see IP Multicasting at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93516.
Routing Service
This feature routes messages between different sites and within a site. For more information about the Routing Service feature see Message Queuing Routing at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93517.
Windows 2000 Client Support
This feature provides Active Directory access for Message Queuing 2.0 clients running on Windows 2000 computers in the domain. If you intend to install Message Queuing on a Windows 2000 computer in a site, you must install Message Queuing with Windows 2000 Client Support on a Windows Server® 2008 domain controller in the site, or install a Message Queuing server on a Windows 2000 domain controller in the site, or promote the Windows 2000 computer on which you want to install a Message Queuing server to a domain controller
Message Queuing DCOM Proxy
This feature enables the MSMQ DCOM API to connect to a remote Message Queuing server.