Web site needs some back-end processing, looking for best methods!

[msnews.microsoft.com]

I have a VB.NET web application using SQL Server. I need to do weekly and
monthly processing on that database that will probably require a couple
hours to complete, so having this run in the web application is probably not
a good idea.

I'd like to keep this all in the VS.NET environment (VB.NET). Should I be
using a Windows Service, or a Windows Application?

It will be able to run off a config file, changed by a web site admin
interface.


-Max

 

[John Saunders]

I have a VB.NET web application using SQL Server. I need to do weekly and
monthly processing on that database that will probably require a couple
hours to complete, so having this run in the web application is probably not
a good idea.

I'd like to keep this all in the VS.NET environment (VB.NET). Should I be
using a Windows Service, or a Windows Application?

It will be able to run off a config file, changed by a web site admin
interface.

It doesn't really matter how you do this. It depends on your environment and
your comfort levels.

VS.NET makes it easy to create a Windows Service, so you could do it that
way. You could also create a console application and run it as a scheduled
task. I've done both, and they both work well.

 

[John Oakes]

Why don't you just create a DTS package to do this? I know you want to keep
it in VS.NET environment, but there are a lot of advantages to just using
DTS.

-John Oakes

 

[John Oakes]

What kind of calculations? You would probably be better off doing them all
in TSQL. If you use DTS, a lot of the functionality you need is already
there. You won't have to write code to run on a schedule, notify you of
results, etc. If you put all of your SQL code in stored procedure you can
just call those from the DTS package.

-John Oakes