Message Queuing overview
Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Message Queuing overview
Message Queuing (also known as MSMQ) is a messaging infrastructure and a development tool for creating distributed messaging applications for Microsoft Windows operating systems. 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 may be temporarily unable to connect to one another. Message Queuing provides guaranteed message delivery, efficient routing, security, support for sending messages within transactions, and priority-based messaging. Software products with these features are often referred to in the industry as message-queuing software, store and forward software, or message-oriented middleware.
Message Queuing is not a database and does not provide database functionality, but can be used together with a database, for example for message storage.
With Message Queuing, end users can communicate across networks and computers that may 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. Through Message Queuing, MIS decision makers get more reliable communication and more efficient use of network resources. Developers can focus on business logic instead of networking issues because Message Queuing effectively provides guaranteed network communication.
The current version of Message Queuing introduces a number of new features. For more details, see Message Queuing features. There are also a number of terminology and administrative changes from previous versions. If you are upgrading from a previous version, see the Upgrade overview for a list of changes.
Message Queuing naming
In its earliest versions (for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, and Windows 98), Message Queuing was called Microsoft Message Queuing Server, or MSMQ 1.0. Similarly, the version for Windows 2000 is officially called Message Queuing 2.0 and is often referred to as MSMQ 2.0 in external literature and other external sources.
The current version of Message Queuing, which is based on the original MSMQ technology and conceptions and is supplemented with numerous new features, is officially called Message Queuing 3.0. This documentation uses the current official name Message Queuing as a generic term for all the versions. This is not intended to discourage the use of the already familiar term MSMQ. The term MSMQ is used widely by veteran users and in external sources, and it is recommended that all users be familiar with both terms.