I've got a distributed system where there will be 1 SQL Server, 1-n processing servers, and 1-n data suppliers (hardware devices across the network). The data being supplied will require processing prior to going into the relational DB structure - performed by the processing servers (as windows services - .net code to parse the data, process it, and insert it into the relational structure.)
To handle the potential load and not slow down the data suppliers, I want to implement a queue, but I'm not sure I want to add the complexity of an MSMQ server to the mix. Is there a good alternative to MSMQ, such as using the DB (a flat table) as the queue? Does .NET provide any out-of-the-box support for DB queues, or is there another option for reliable queueing?
Thanks
I would use MSMQ, it doesnt add that much complexity, and it is so easy to backup the messages, so processing can continue even after a system restart. You could use something like SSB.