Asynchronous processing. Service Broker has a queue-based metaphor and it can execute stored procedures asynchronously when new messages arrive. I gnash my teet

Asynchronous processing. Service Broker has a queue-based metaphor and it can execute stored procedures asynchronously when new messages arrive. I gnash my teeth every time I see problems "solved" by the "we'll just poll the database periodically for changes" pattern that could be better-served by Service Broker. Service Broker performs store-and-forward reliably message delivery inside a single SQL Server instance and between instances (on the same machine or over a network). The inter-instance delivery is particularly nice insofar as that it can use certificates for authentication (which is very nice when you have disparate Active Directory environments in play). We've built a couple of system that use it and have been very pleased with the results. I can't figure out why it's so obscure. The documentation isn't terrible but it's definitely got a steep learning curve.